Obituaries

Olema Sofia LamarHomemaker, Volunteer

Olema Sofia Lamar, 82, a homemaker and volunteer, died June 23 of complications of a heart attack at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax. She lived in Alexandria.

Mrs. Lamar was born in Placetas, Cuba, and graduated from the University of Havana. She moved with her family to the United States in 1961 and to Virginia the next year. She became a citizen of the United States in the mid-1960s.

Mrs. Lamar volunteered at the Fairfax Public Library in Chantilly and provided backup day care for many families in Alexandria, Oakton and Fairfax.

Survivors include her husband of 47 years, Osvaldo Lamar of Alexandria; three children, Tatiana Kahn of Chantilly, Christina Schoendorf of Alexandria and Pancho Lamar of Alexandria; and four granddaughters.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Robert Ernest LytleNavy Captain

Robert Ernest Lytle, 87, a retired naval aviator and intelligence officer, died of cancer June 19 at his home in Annapolis.

Capt. Lytle flew 44 combat dive-bombing missions against Japanese forces on Bougainville Island and in Rabaul, New Guinea, during World War II, and he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and eight Air Medals. He later received two Legions of Merit.

Recalled to duty during the Korean War, he was an instructor at the Naval Intelligence School for three years. He then served in a variety of posts, including intelligence officer with the commander of the Naval Air Forces, Atlantic fleet; in the office of the chief of naval operations; on the Joint Strategic Target Planning staff in Nebraska; and with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He ended his naval career as commanding officer of the Fleet Intelligence Center Pacific at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

He was born in Jersey City and graduated from Montclair State Teachers College in New Jersey. After World War II ended, he returned to school and received a master's degree in English from New York University in 1947. He taught at the Newark College of Engineering and the now-defunct Associated Colleges of Upper New York in Plattsburgh and was an English instructor at West Point Preparatory School in Newburgh, N.Y.

Capt. Lytle retired from the Navy in 1972 and worked as an intelligence analyst and project manager at Sparcom and Computer Sciences. He lived in Alexandria until three years ago.