Thursday, June 26, 2008
Rita Schatzl StrongWaitress
Rita Schatzl Strong, 78, a retired waitress and food service worker, died June 13 of a heart attack at her home in Alexandria.
Mrs. Strong was born in Wolnzach, Germany, where she met her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Harold E. Strong. They were married in 1949. He was killed in the Vietnam War in 1965.
Mrs. Strong lived in Alexandria for more than 40 years and worked as a waitress at the Fort Belvoir Officers' Club and at a Holiday Inn in Alexandria. She later managed the dairy department of the Fort Belvoir commissary before her retirement in 1989.
A son, Edward Gregory Strong, died in 1979.
Survivors include three children, Harold G. "Sonny" Strong of Alexandria, Rita Strong Lester of Kinsale, Va., and Kathie Strong Driscoll of Lynchburg, Va.; and four grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel
Raymond L. BrodieVA Loan Official
Raymond L. Brodie, 83, who spent 32 years working for the Veterans Benefits Administration until retiring in 1987 as assistant director for loan guarantee and management, died June 14 at his home in Midlothian, near Richmond. He had lung cancer.
Mr. Brodie worked for the Veterans Administration in Philadelphia before moving to the Washington office in the early 1960s. He received career awards from the veterans agency.
Raymond Leader Brodie was a Philadelphia native and a 1948 graduate of Pennsylvania State University. He received a master's degree in public speaking from Temple University.
During World War II, he served in the Army and participated in the Normandy invasion.
After retiring, he moved to Midlothian from Potomac and volunteered at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond.
His hobbies included tennis and golf.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Melba Kleinberger Brodie of Midlothian; two children, Helayne G. Sweet of Oakton and George H. Brodie of Burke; and four grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
Thomas Earle Cox IIICorporate Executive
Thomas Earle Cox III, 66, who was a chief of contracts and procurement at the Military District of Washington before joining an international contract furniture company in Tennessee, died of cardiac arrest May 28 at Bay Medical Center in Panama City Beach, Fla., his town of residence. He formerly lived in Arlington County and Vienna.
Mr. Cox held several management positions in the Military District of Washington from 1968 to 1982, when he left the Washington area to become an executive with Shelby Williams in Morristown, Tenn. He transferred to Atlanta to lead international and East Coast sales for the company before retiring in 2003 and moving to Panama City Beach.
He was born in Atlanta into a military family and lived all over the world, including in Yokohama, Japan, and Trieste, Italy. He moved to Northern Virginia in sixth grade and graduated in 1960 from Washington-Lee High School, where he was a member of the Schoolboy and Stotesbury Cup award-winning crew teams.
He attended East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., where he was an Air Force ROTC cadet and assistant swim team coach.
Mr. Cox, who had an adventurous personality, loved to see new places and meet people, said his identical twin brother, Norman J. Cox of Arlington.
In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife of 44 years, Corinne Godsey Cox of Panama City Beach; three daughters, Corinne Kirby of Knoxville, Tenn., Erinn Siemer of Tampa and Heather Cox of Panama City Beach; three sisters, Gayle Webster of Port Angeles, Wash., Beverly Rogers of Tampa and Dianne Featherston of San Francisco; and four grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Marguerite Ridgewell EllisCatering Firm Owner
Marguerite Ridgewell "Fifi" Ellis, 90, a former co-owner of a prominent Washington catering firm, died June 11 of lung cancer at her home at Maplewood Park Place in Bethesda.
Mrs. Ellis was a Washington native who graduated from the old Central High School. Her family's catering business, Ridgewells, was founded by her parents in 1928. Her father had been a butler at the British Embassy; her mother had been a chef at the French Embassy.
Mrs. Ellis and her husband, Clarence "Slim" Ellis, began operating the company in 1946 and made it a Washington institution. Mrs. Ellis, who liked to write her invoices in purple ink, had the company's trucks painted a distinctive purple color, which became Ridgewells signature.
The company has catered to every president since Harry S. Truman, as well as popes, Washington dignitaries, royalty and the 1978 summit meeting at Camp David between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
She held the office of vice president before turning over management of the company to her sons in the early 1970s. Ridgewells was sold in 1984 and continues to operate nationwide from its Bethesda headquarters.
Mrs. Ellis lived in Frederick and at Leisure World in Silver Spring before moving to Maplewood Park Place.
Her husband died in 1990.
Survivors include two sons, Bruce Ellis of Bethesda and Jeff Ellis of Virginia Beach; eight grandchildren; and 20 grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel
J. Donald HuppertFBI Assistant Section Chief
J. Donald Huppert, 86, an FBI special agent who became an assistant chief in the agency's investigative division, died June 2 at Sunrise assisted living home in Falls Church. He had coronary artery disease.
Mr. Huppert worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1947 to 1975 and had been based at the headquarters since 1962. He retired as assistant chief of the investigative division's criminal section.
From 1987 to 1999, he worked for the Greenbelt-based MSM Security Services as a security clearance investigator for military and intelligence organizations.
James Donald Huppert was born in Detroit and grew up in Terre Haute, Ind. He graduated in 1947 from what is now Indiana State University.
During World War II, he served in the Marine Corps and was a platoon leader during the Okinawa campaign. His decorations included the Purple Heart.
He was a founding member of the Poplar Heights Recreation Association in Falls Church, and he also belonged to the Army Navy Country Club. He participated in a Falls Church bowling league before moving to Sunrise in 2006.
Mr. Huppert did volunteer work for the Northern Virginia Swimming League in the 1950s and 1960s and later for the Republican Party. He enjoyed golfing, studying biblical archaeology and Shakespeare, and playing trumpet along with his swing record collection.
His wife of 56 years, Maxine Rice "Mike" Huppert, died in 2005.
Survivors include three daughters, Sally Brady of Detroit, Nancy Humphreys of Pensacola, Fla., and Susan Herrington of Ashburn; five grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.
-- Adam Bernstein
Thomas A. O'ConnellDeputy Fire Chief
Thomas Aquinas O'Connell, 81, a retired deputy fire chief in the District, died June 24 of congestive heart failure at Casey House hospice in Rockville. He was a Silver Spring resident.
Mr. O'Connell was born in the District. When he was 2, his mother died, and he was placed in St. Joseph's Home and School for Boys for several years. He attended Central High School but dropped out to enlist in the Army at age 16, following in the footsteps of his four older brothers. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson recognized the O'Connells' rare simultaneous service with a letter to their father.
Mr. O'Connell was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in the Rhineland and Central European campaigns. He also participated in the Battle of the Bulge.
He was called back to active duty as a military policeman during the Korean War before joining the D.C. fire department in 1953. He became one of six deputy fire chiefs in 1980. He received a number of commendations for heroism and bravery and retired in 1983.
Mr. O'Connell was involved with scouting when his sons were growing up and coached a variety of sports teams in Catholic Youth Organization leagues.
He was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Forest Glen and was a senior officer in the Irish American Club of Washington. He also was active in the International Association of Fire Fighters until ill health curtailed his participation.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Ellen Bridget Boyle O'Connell of Silver Spring; three children, Dennis O'Connell of Chevy Chase, Edward O'Connell of Santa Monica, Calif., and Margaret Laferty of Silver Spring; a sister, Mary Gentile of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren.
-- Joe Holley