Obituaries

A homemaker, she also was active in a number of Jewish philanthropic organizations and the Holocaust Museum. She was a life-long member and benefactor of the Adas Israel congregation in the District.

She was an accomplished bridge player and achieved the title of Life Master in 1981. A worldwide traveler, she visited Europe, Asia and South America.

Her husband, Leo Friend, died in 1979.

Survivors include two sons, Ronald Friend of Silver Spring and Bruce Friend of Oakland, Calif.; and three grandsons.

-- Joe Holley

Walter D. JohnsonMotor Vehicle Operator

Walter D. Johnson, 76, a retired National Guard, Navy and Air Force veteran who also worked for the Army as a civilian, died May 25 of coronary artery disease at his home in Falls Church.

Mr. Johnson was born in Boston, where family members recalled that he was a conscientious newspaper carrier as a youngster. He attended Bryant & Stratton College in 1951 and joined the Army National Guard. Later he enlisted in the Navy and served at the Potomac River Naval Command. In 1958, he joined the Air Force and was posted primarily in Alaska.

Retiring from the military in 1974, he worked for the 172nd Infantry Brigade in the Army as a flight data monitor and as an accounting tech/budget analyst in Anchorage.

He moved to Northern Virginia in the late 1980s and worked for the Military Traffic Management Command as a motor vehicle operator. His job involved daily runs to Buzzard's Point Marina, the Pentagon, Fort Myer, Fort Belvoir, the Hoffman Buildings, Cameron Station and the Skyline area.

He also made unscheduled runs to locations in Northern Virginia and the District and was as conscientious about keeping his vehicle in good working order as he was about delivering newspapers years earlier in Boston. He retired again in 1997.