Monday, August 25, 2008
Clayton Edward DoucetteInsurance Broker
Clayton Edward Doucette, 76, who was an insurance agent and broker for many years, died Aug. 19 at Greenfield of Stafford, an assisted living facility. He had dementia.
Mr. Doucette was born in Bingham, Maine, and came to the Washington area after high school. He served in the Army during the Korean War.
He spent many years as an insurance agent with Geico and other agencies, and he had his own insurance brokerage for several years before retiring in 1998 from Banner Life Insurance Co.
In January 1951, Mr. Doucette was severely wounded in combat near the Chosin Reservoir in one of the fiercest battles of the Korean War. He was hospitalized for more than 14 months and spent six months in a full-body cast. More than 50 years later, as he was going through old family papers, he found a telegram to his mother, dated Jan. 29, 1951, announcing that he had been "slightly injured in action in Korea."
"I sat there and stared at that for a minute before the words 'slightly injured' really sank in," Mr. Doucette told the Fredericksburg Star in 2004. "I wouldn't call something that put me in hospitals for 14 months a 'slight injury.' "
He filed an inquiry with the Army and was finally awarded a Purple Heart, presented to all military personnel wounded in action, nearly 53 years after he was injured.
Mr. Doucette, a longtime Stafford resident, was a Mason and a member of the Aquia Harbour Yacht Club in Stafford.
His first wife, Beverly A. Doucette, died in 1976.
Two daughters, Doreen M. Doucette and Debra A. Doucette, died in 1999 and 2007, respectively.
Survivors include his wife of 32 years, Sandie Doucette of Stafford; two daughters from his first marriage, Diane Doucette-Weiser and Dawn J. Doucette, both of Richmond; two stepchildren, Tami Maghan of Stafford and Greg Schumm of Fredericksburg; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
-- Matt Schudel
Burton L. FalkofskeEngineer
Burton L. Falkofske, 78, an electrical engineer who worked on satellite communications projects, died Aug. 16 at Reston Hospital Center of complications from a fall suffered last year. He lived in Springfield.
Mr. Falkofske began his career with Western Electric Co. in Colorado and moved to Maine in 1962 to work on the Earth station in Andover, Maine, an important early satellite transmission facility in the global communications network.
He stayed in Maine as assistant manager of the Earth station when Communications Satellite Corp. (Comsat) took over the project in 1965. He transferred to the company's Washington headquarters in 1968 and helped plan new equipment for Comsat's six Earth stations.
After retiring in 1988, Mr. Falkofske worked for a short time in the records department of the Fairfax County public schools.
Mr. Falkofske was born in Ellsworth, Wis. He graduated from San Jose State University in California.
He held many volunteer positions with the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Webelos, an intermediary group between the two. He edited a district Scouting newsletter for 11 years and received many awards for his volunteer work, including Wood Badge leadership beads and the Silver Beaver award.
He was a member of the West Springfield Civic Association and Messiah United Methodist Church in Springfield.
Mr. Falkofske was a student of genealogy and enjoyed dogs.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Carla Falkofske of Springfield; three sons, Randall Falkofske of Springfield, Dwight Falkofske of Centreville and Jonathan Falkofske of Burke; five brothers; a sister; and two grandsons.
-- Matt Schudel
Lois Mae Jones FrickInsurance Clerk
Lois Mae Jones Frick, 81, who spent many years as an insurance company clerk, died Aug. 21 of kidney failure at Washington Hospital Center. She lived in Upper Marlboro.
Mrs. Frick was born in Fredericksburg and moved to the Washington area in her youth. She worked for Acacia Mutual Life Insurance for more than 30 years, retiring in 1986.
She was a member of Moose Lodge No. 1350 in Upper Marlboro.
Her marriage to James B. Frick ended in divorce.
Survivors include three daughters, Carol Godin of Orlando, Brenda Laing of Savage and Renie Blankenship of Suitland; a half-brother, Millard "Dickie" Anderson of Upper Marlboro; six grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel
Flavia L. GiampietroNurse
Flavia L. Giampietro, 80, a retired registered nurse, died Aug. 19 of a ruptured brain aneurysm at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. She had been in a car accident in Edgewater the previous day. She lived in Rockville.
Mrs. Giampietro began her nursing career after arriving in the Washington area in 1949. She was an instructor for the Visiting Nurses Association of greater Washington and, throughout the 1950s and '60s, was a private-duty nurse in hospitals.
In the 1970s, she was a nurse in the Rockville medical offices of Ralph Himmelhoch and Peter Pushkas and also was nursing director at a Chevy Chase nursing home. She conducted peer reviews of local hospitals for the National Capital Medical Foundation before joining the old Capitol Hill Hospital in 1978 as director of patient affairs. She was assistant administrator for nursing at the hospital until her retirement in 1984.
Mrs. Giampietro was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduated in 1948 from the school of nursing at Brooklyn's old Prospect Heights Hospital.
She was a member of Aglow International, a Christian women's charitable organization.
A daughter, Lynn Case, died in 2007.
Survivors include her husband of 59 years, Dominick M. Giampietro of Rockville; five children, Camille G. Dyer of Burleson, Tex., Niki M. Queen of Myersville, Adam Giampietro of Germantown, Vincent Giampietro of Silver Spring and D. Michael Giampietro of Ijamsville; a brother, Peter J. Lombardi of Naples, Fla.; a sister, Camille G. Ward of Edgewater; and 16 grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel
James A. Keys Sr.Painter and Contractor
James A. Keys Sr., 88, a retired government painter who later had a painting and contracting business in Northern Virginia, died Aug. 18 at his Falls Church home of complications from liver cancer.
Mr. Keys was born in Bristow and attended Manassas High School before joining the Army in 1939. He served in the Army's 27th Infantry Division during World War II and was wounded in battle on the Pacific island of Saipan.
He received two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. He left the Army in 1948 as a staff sergeant.
Mr. Keys later spent almost 30 years with the General Services Administration as a painter at the Pentagon and the Navy Annex. After retiring from the GSA in 1972, he opened a painting and contracting business, which he later operated with his sons. He retired in 2003.
He was a member of the Disabled American Veterans and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
His wife of 36 years, Dorothea Mae Keys, died in 1992.
Survivors include four children, Katherine C. Keys and Christopher D. Keys, both of Fredericksburg, and James A. Keys Jr. and Kevin Keys, both of Falls Church; 10 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel