Obituaries

-- Adam Bernstein

Lula Duvall MechlinHomemaker

Lula Duvall Mechlin, 88, a Chevy Chase homemaker, died Aug. 3 of congestive heart failure at Burke Health Care Center in Burke.

Mrs. Mechlin was born in Springfield and lived in the Washington area her whole life. A few years after her marriage during World War II, she moved to Chevy Chase, where she raised her three sons. She was a member of the Chevy Chase Country Club, where she enjoyed bowling. She also enjoyed gardening and flower arranging and was a member of the Chevy Chase Woman's Club and the Down to Earth Garden Club. She was a volunteer with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Her husband, Wilmer Mechlin, died in 1994.

Survivors include three sons, David Mechlin of the District, Peter Mechlin of Centreville and Robert Mechlin of Arundel, United Kingdom; and three grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Margaret W. MilnerVolunteer

Margaret W. Milner, 92, an Arlington County resident whose memberships included the Capitol Speakers Club, the Washington Club, the Salvation Army ladies auxiliary and Daughters of the American Revolution, died July 23 at Virginia Hospital Center of congestive heart failure.

Mrs. Milner was an emeritus board member of Thompson-Markward Hall, a Capitol Hill home for women. She was a former member of the board of deacons at National Presbyterian Church, where she was a member and docent.

Margaret Wiebusch was a native of Waco, Tex. She received a bachelor's degree in French and a master's degree in English, both with honors, from Baylor University in Waco.

She taught high school English in central Texas before her marriage in 1941. She accompanied her husband on his military assignments before settling in the Washington area in 1961.

Her husband, retired Army Col. James W. Milner, died in 1999. A son, James W. Milner Jr., died in 1965.

Survivors include a daughter, Margaret M. Richardson of Washington and Delaplane; a sister; a brother; and a granddaughter.

-- Adam Bernstein

Frances PalamaraC&P Executive Receptionist

Frances Lyles Thompson Palamara, 86, a retired executive receptionist with the old Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., died of a perforated intestine Aug. 1 at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney. She lived in Silver Spring.

Mrs. Palamara worked at C&P's headquarters in Washington for 45 years, and the last half of her career was as executive receptionist. She retired in 1983.

She was born in Alexandria and graduated from Strayer Secretarial School in Washington.

Mrs. Palamara was active in the Young Democrats of Montgomery County between 1955 and 1978 and participated in the 1964 national convention. She co-chaired election campaigns for several Montgomery judges and was a past secretary for the Montgomery County Telephone Pioneers of America.

Her first husband, James Leroy Thompson, died in 1952. Her second marriage, to Edward Anthony Palamara, ended in divorce.

Survivors include five sisters.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Barron Demetrius ProctorLimousine Driver

Barron Demetrius Proctor, 42, a Prince George's County native who had worked most recently as a limousine driver in North Carolina, died July 29 of cancer at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. He lived in Smithfield, N.C.

Mr. Proctor was born in Landover and was part of a touring youth choir as a child. He graduated from Surrattsville High School.

He held a variety of jobs at stores, a car rental agency and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission before moving to North Carolina in 1995.

Survivors include his partner of 10 years, Jason L. Johnson of Smithfield; his mother, Rose A. Proctor of Murrells Inlet, S.C.; three brothers, George M. Proctor Jr. of Laurel, Anthony L. Proctor of Raleigh, N.C., and Steven T. Proctor of Oxon Hill; and four sisters, Sheila A. Davis of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., Wanda V. Johnson of District Heights, Penny E. Smith of Raleigh and Faith F. Proctor of Largo.

-- Matt Schudel

Branko StuparLawyer

Branko Stupar, 85, a retired lawyer in the District who specialized in construction contract litigation, died July 27 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Potomac.

Mr. Stupar, known as "Brownie," was born in Washington, Pa., and enrolled at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, in 1941. He transferred during his junior year to Ohio Wesleyan University, where he signed up for the Navy V-12 program. He completed his midshipman training at Columbia University and served in the South Pacific during World War II, participating in the invasion of Okinawa.

After the war, he returned to Muskingum, where he received his undergraduate degree in political science in 1946. He received his law degree from American University in 1951 and practiced law with the firm of Faulkner, Shands & Stupar for almost a half-century.

A member of the Naval Reserve, he served as commanding officer of several intelligence units and in 1969 was in charge of operational control at an air base in Portugal during North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises. He retired as a Naval Reserve captain in 1982.

He also was the owner of V-Par Co., a real estate holding company with interests in the District, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Vermont. He was a member of several professional organizations as well as the University Club and the Military Order of Carabao. He also served on the board of governors of Congressional Country Club and as chairman of the club's legal committee.

Mr. Stupar loved golf and played often at Congressional Country Club. He also was a Washington Redskins fan.

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Helen Amundson Stupar of Potomac; four children, Peter Stupar of Alameda, Calif., Marlys Rixey of Cabin John, David Stupar of Rockville and Brian Stupar of Arcata, Calif.; a sister; and a granddaughter.

-- Joe Holley

Helen Gasser TaylorSeamstress

Helen Gasser Taylor, 90, a retired seamstress at clothing stores who also participated in Swiss folklore groups, died July 25 of congestive heart failure at Bayview Nursing Center in New Bern, N.C.

Mrs. Taylor was born in Duluth, Minn., to Swiss immigrant parents and lived in Switzerland, Minnesota, Illinois and Upstate New York during her youth. She came to Washington in 1937.

For many years, she worked as a seamstress for several women's specialty shops and men's clothing stores. She also taught sewing at her home in Arlington County and later in Annandale during the 1950s and 1960s.

Mrs. Taylor retained her Swiss citizenship throughout her life. In the early 1950s, she helped found the Swiss Folklore Group, which was associated with the Swiss Club of Washington. The group performed Swiss dances, accompanied by traditional music. Mrs. Taylor made many of the dancers' costumes.

In 1972, Mrs. Taylor and her husband moved to Satellite Beach, Fla. She later lived in Keystone Heights, Fla.

Her husband of 49 years, Walter Taylor, died in 1991.

Survivors include two sons, Richard W. Taylor of Warrenton and Kenneth C. Taylor of New Bern; three grandsons; and four great-grandchildren.

-- Matt Schudel

John Robert 'Bob' Topping Jr.Minister

The Rev. John Robert "Bob" Topping Jr., 87, founding minister of the Church at Northern Virginia in Oakton, died Aug. 3 of congestive heart failure at Hospice House of Williamsburg. He was a former resident of West Springfield and Reston.

Rev. Topping was born in New York and grew up in Belleville, N.J. He attended Essex Junior College and then served in the Navy during World War II as a petty officer first class in anti-submarine warfare.

He received an undergraduate degree in business in 1949 from Rutgers University, where he was student body president.

He was working as a sales executive with Lambert Pharmaceutical Co. when he had what he called a "Moses burning bush" experience near Jerome, Ariz. "My response was, 'I must tell people about Jesus,' " he wrote.

He received his master's of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1957.

For more than three decades as a minister, Rev. Topping served as pastor at Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church in Daretown, N.J., and Garden Memorial Presbyterian Church in the District.

He left the Presbyterian Church and founded the Church at Northern Virginia in Oakton in 1967. Many of the original congregants were listeners of "The Whole Word for the Whole Man," Rev. Topping's Saturday morning show on a Fairfax radio station.

He founded Whole Word Theological Seminary in 1976. The seminary closed in 1982.

Rev. Topping participated in a number of mission trips to India, Russia and Scandinavia and also maintained a prayer ministry in his later years. He retired in 1989.

He was an avid reader, a Bible scholar and a sports fan who particularly enjoyed watching the Washington Redskins.

His wife, Paula V. "Pat" Topping, died in 2005.

Survivors include his daughter, Jane B. Topping, and his son, Robert G. Topping, both of Williamsburg; two sisters; a brother; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Richard Alvord WardLawyer, Marine Pilot

Richard Alvord Ward, 85, a lawyer and former Marine pilot, died of pulmonary fibrosis July 31 at his home in Irvington, Va.

A partner in the law firm of Rice, Carpenter and Carraway in Arlington County, he specialized in motor carrier and corporate law. He retired in 1985.

He was born in San Bernardino, Calif., and graduated from George Washington University. He joined the Marine Corps during World War II, serving as an aviator in the Pacific, and later was a pilot during the Korean War.

He commanded a jet squadron before his military retirement, at the rank of lieutenant colonel, in 1962. Among his awards were the Distinguished Flying Cross and three awards of the Air Medal.

Col. Ward received a law degree from GWU in 1965 and worked first for what is now the Berliner law firm in Washington before joining Rice, Carpenter and Carraway.

He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Military Officers Association and treasurer of the Mary Ball Washington Museum in Lancaster, Va.

He was a founding member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in White Stone, Va., and volunteered with an organization providing income tax assistance to low-income and elderly residents.

Col. Ward was a master gardener, and he loved golf, jazz and sailing, having lived for a year on his boat in the Caribbean in 1970. A wine aficionado, he was a partner in his son's business, Saintsbury Winery in Napa, Calif.

His marriage to Ella Meadows Ward ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife, Jean Redick Ward of Irvington; three children from his first marriage, Normandie Ward Fischer of Gloucester, N.C., Richard A. Ward Jr. of St. Helena, Calif., and Heidi Meadows Ward Ravenel of Charleston, S.C.; three stepchildren, Marion Redick McEnroe and Dana McEnroe Reynolds, both of Portland, Maine, and George Patrick McEnroe of Houston; and seven grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan