Thursday, September 4, 2008

Walter A. IndykeArmy Lieutenant Colonel

Walter A. Indyke, 94, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was on the operations team that intercepted and decoded the Japanese transmission indicating the attack on Pearl Harbor was imminent, died Aug. 13 of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at HCR ManorCare in Potomac. He was a longtime McLean resident.

Col. Indyke was born in Jamesburg, N.J. He served in the District with the Army Signal Corps during World War II.

In addition to helping intercept and decode the Pearl Harbor transmission, he was on duty in 1942 when Gen. Jonathan Wainwright sent his message to President Franklin Roosevelt that he would surrender at Corregidor in the Philippines.

He also helped provide communications for the Atlantic Charter Conference, D-Day landings in Normandy and the Cairo, Yalta and Potsdam conferences.

Immediately after the war, he served with Gen. George C. Marshall's "mediation mission" in Shanghai and with the Army of Occupation in Germany. He also attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Col. Indyke received his bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Maryland in 1953. He retired from active duty in 1958. From 1959 to 1965, he worked for the Navy Department before being appointed a U.S. representative in communications to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with postings in Paris and Brussels.

He then worked at Army Materiel Command in Alexandria, specializing in electronic countermeasures, until retiring a second time in 1975.

In retirement, Col. Indyke was a member of the Military Officers Association of America and the Polish-American Society.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Stella K. Indyke of McLean; three children, Donna C. Indyke of Brussels, Gregory G. Indyke of Bel Air, Md., and David K. Indyke of Waldorf; three sisters, Anne Robak of Lakewood, N.J., Helen Konopacki of South River, N.J., and Mary O'Brien of McLean; a brother, George Indyke of Milltown, N.J.; and three grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Rex Ernest RobertsArmy Logistics Expert

Rex Ernest Roberts, 89, a retired Army major who worked as a civilian logistics officer at the Pentagon, died Aug. 17 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a heart attack. He lived in Annandale.

Maj. Roberts, a native of Fort Bridger, Wyo., enlisted in the Army in 1939 and was an officer in the armor branch during World War II. He served in Europe and received a Bronze Star Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

He was a graduate of Army command and staff colleges and served with NATO forces in Denmark from 1952 to 1955.

After retiring from active duty in 1959, Maj. Roberts worked in the office of the Army deputy chief of staff for logistics at the Pentagon. He specialized in international logistics, and his duties took him to more than 25 countries. He twice received the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award before retiring in 1975.

He was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church in Annandale.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Mary Roberts of Annandale; four children, Ursula Dames of Louisville, Mary Beth James of Atlanta, George Roberts of Eagle, Colo., and John Franklin Roberts of Riverside, Conn.; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

-- Matt Schudel

Katherine J. TempleIRS Manager

Katherine J. Temple, 59, who retired from the Internal Revenue Service in 2004 as a manager in the office of the chief financial officer, died Aug. 27 at the Washington Home hospice. She had breast cancer.

Mrs. Temple joined the IRS in 1972 and worked on tax fraud investigations and tax collections in Chicago before moving to the Washington area in 1982.

While in Chicago, she co-owned a hot air balloon company that offered rides and competed in tournaments and festivals.

Katherine Judson was born in Baraboo, Wis., and grew up in Milwaukee. She graduated in 1971 from the University of Wisconsin and received a master's degree in business administration from DePaul University in Chicago.

She had homes in Bethesda and Naples, Fla. She was a member of Kenwood Golf and Country Club in Bethesda. She won tennis trophies at the club level and also enjoyed skiing and golfing.

Survivors include her husband of 26 years, Gary Temple of Bethesda and Naples; a son, Michael Temple of Huntington Beach, Calif.; and a brother.

-- Adam Bernstein

Dorothy W. TousignantFood, Nutrition Specialist

Dorothy Wiltamuth Tousignant, 88, a food and nutrition consultant for banks, colleges and military establishments, died Aug. 27 at Arden Courts care facility in Silver Spring. She had Alzheimer's disease.

Mrs. Tousignant was born in East Moline, Ill. A graduate of the University of Illinois, she received her master's degree at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts and interned at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

During World War II, she was a food and nutrition specialist with the Army Medical Service Corps and served in India, New Zealand and elsewhere in the Pacific.

She later founded her own food services company, D.W. Tousignant & Associates, whose clients included American Security Bank, Catholic University and The Washington Post.

In the 1980s, her firm ran the YWCA cafeteria and had a contract to bake chocolate chip cookies for the women's organization. The business at one time sold 1,200 chocolate chip cookies a day.

"Zillions of people have tried to copy the recipe," she told The Post in 1983. "But it is a tricky little cookie. There's a lot of chemistry that goes into developing the taste, texture and color."

Mrs. Tousignant resided in Washington for more than 60 years before moving to Silver Spring this year. The couple also had a home in Middleburg for many years. She was a member of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Washington.

A daughter, Carmen Wall-Toussignant, died in 2000.

Survivors include her husband of 59 years, Leonard A. Tousignant of Silver Spring; a sister; and two grandsons.

-- Patricia Sullivan