Saturday, November 8, 2008
Walter B. Chambers Jr.Maritime Administration Official
Walter B. Chambers Jr., 89, a retired chief of emergency planning for the U.S. Maritime Administration, died Oct. 24 at his home in Silver Spring of complications from a fall at his home in April.
Mr. Chambers began his federal career in 1936, while still in high school, as a messenger with the U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corp., which was part of the U.S. Maritime Commission.
He stayed with the agency, which later folded into the Maritime Administration, for 38 years, retiring in 1974.
He was a U.S. delegate to NATO's Planning Board for Ocean Shipping from 1969 to 1974.
Walter Benjamin Chambers was born in Washington and graduated from Western High School in 1940. He served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II.
He was a member of the Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington and Argyle Country Club in Silver Spring.
His wife of 50 years, Wilda Taylor Chambers, died in 1989.
Survivors include two daughters, Judith L. Braddy of Rockville and Nancy J. Gouge of Ocala, Fla.; five grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
-- Lauren Wiseman
Beth Southern-EubanksPhysical Education Professor
Beth Southern-Eubanks, 56, a former college professor and D.C. Parks and Recreation Department administrator, died Oct. 12 at Capital Hospice in Arlington County from complications from an anoxic brain injury. She was a resident of Upper Marlboro. Dr. Southern-Eubanks was a physical education professor at Howard University from 1975 to 1991 and an associate professor of leisure studies at Grambling (La.) State University from 1999 to 2003. She was head of special programs for senior citizens for the Parks and Recreation Department from 2006 to 2007.
Beth Southern was born in Cleveland. She received a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1974 and a master's degree in health and physical education administration in 1975, both from Howard. She earned her doctorate in therapeutic recreation from the University of Maryland in 1987.
During the 1980s, she was a synchronized swimming judge at the U.S. Olympic trials and national championships. From 1986 to 1992, she helped develop and run Bodywise, a fitness program for seniors in Washington.
From 1992 to 1996, she was a chief program officer for the Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency, and from 1996 to 1999, she was a health-care manager for Maryland.
Her marriages to Chester Eubanks and James Hollingsworth ended in divorce.
Survivors include a son from her first marriage, Marcus A. Eubanks of Washington; two brothers, F. David Coleman of Pittsburgh and Paul B. Southern of Washington; and two sisters, Renira J. Southern of Upper Marlboro and Laura Southern-Jones of Washington.
-- Lauren Wiseman
G. Daniel HessmannPostal Service Engineer
G. Daniel Hessmann, 83, a mechanical engineer who worked for the U.S. Postal Service from 1965 to 1997 and helped in the transition from manual to automated operations in mail sorting, died Oct. 25 at his home in Silver Spring. He had pancreatic cancer.
Mr. Hessmann did mechanical engineering work for the rayon maker American Viscose in Pennsylvania and for the abrasives manufacturer Carborundum in Niagara Falls, N.Y., before joining the old Post Office Department in Washington.
He taught at the Postal Academy in Potomac toward the end of his career, conducting courses in the use of personal computers by postal analysts and engineers.
George Daniel Hessmann was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., and raised in the mid-Atlantic states and West Virginia. He was an Eagle Scout as a youth.
He was an Army Air Forces and Army Corps of Engineers veteran of World War II and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rutgers University in 1949.
He was a former president of the D.C. Society of Professional Engineers and until his death was secretary of the Fossils, an organization of retired men. He was a charter member and former president of the American Wine Society's D.C.-Maryland chapter.
His hobbies included playing bridge and participating in "volksmarches," or organized hikes, as well as other walking and running events.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Jean Dela Franco Hessmann of Silver Spring; four children, Sherry Mauck and Sharon Augustyn, both of Silver Spring, Susan Simpson of Boulder, Colo., and Steve Hessmann of Mercer, Pa.; two brothers; and five grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
Alda Tullis BrownParalegal, TV Performer
Alda Tullis Brown, 85, a retired paralegal who appeared on a locally produced television program in the 1950s, died Oct. 20 while visiting her daughter in Marietta, Ga. She had a stroke and died at Hospice Atlanta Center.
Mrs. Brown, who had lived in the District since 1942, was a stenographer with the State Department in the 1940s. From 1950 to 1952, she was an administrative assistant in the Capitol Hill office of Iowa Sen. Guy Gillette (D).
She occasionally performed as a stage and radio singer before becoming a writer, producer and on-air personality with the WTTG-TV program "Jamboree," hosted by Art Lamb. The audience-participation show was broadcast from Washington until 1957.
Mrs. Brown, who was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, was a beauty pageant contestant in her native state. In the 1960s, she was an administrative assistant at the National Science Foundation and Interior Department.
She later became a paralegal for law firms and retired in 1998 after working for several years in the legal office of Robert Zweibel.
Her husband of 49 years, Weldon J. Brown, died in 1998.
Survivors include two daughters, Sherahe B. Fitzpatrick of Marietta, Ga., and Valdeane W. Brown of Victoria, B.C.; two granddaughters; and a great-grandson.
-- Matt Schudel
Sylvia T. KramerSocial Worker
Sylvia T. Kramer, 94, a retired social worker and an enthusiastic mah-jongg player, died at Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham of peritonitis and perforated diverticulitis. She was a resident of Leisure World in Silver Spring.
Mrs. Kramer was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and received her undergraduate degree from New York University in 1934. She became a hospital social worker, first in New York and then in Stamford, Conn.
She retired in 1983 and moved to Leisure World, where she was an active member of the community. She regularly took courses and attended lectures through the Brandeis University National Women's Committee and was a life member of Hadassah, a volunteer organization for Jewish women.
Mah-jongg was her passion. She participated in many weekly games at Leisure World as well as in several local tournaments. She also was a dedicated purchaser of lottery tickets.
Her husband, Julius B. Kramer, died in 1978. A son, Walter Kramer, died in 1989.
Survivors include a daughter, Evelyn K. Epstein of Silver Spring; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
-- Joe Holley
Margaret G. ErbeRegistered Nurse
Margaret G. Erbe, 86, a retired registered nurse, died Oct. 30 from complications of a stroke at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, Pa. She was a former Arlington County resident.
Mrs. Erbe was born Margaret Grant in Kansas City, Kan., and received her nursing degree from St. Mary's College in Leavenworth, Kan. She worked as a nurse in Washington state, California and the Panama Canal Zone before moving to the Washington area in 1954. She was a nurse at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington from the mid-1950s until her retirement in the mid-1970s. In retirement, she enjoyed her grandchildren.
A son, John Michael Erbe, died in 2006.
Survivors include her husband of 60 years, Philip G. Erbe of Coatesville, Pa.; three children, Nancy Lanigan of Coatesville, Ernie Erbe of Falls Church and Amy Beach of Hagerstown; three brothers; 15 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
-- Joe Holley
Carolyn Annette ClampittSmithsonian Manager
Carolyn Annette Clampitt, 78, a retired deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution's visitor reception center, died Oct 30 at Sibley Memorial Hospital of a blood disorder. She was a lifelong Washington resident.
Miss Clampitt graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1948 and attended the old Holton-Arms Junior College and what is now Randolph College in Lynchburg.
She worked as a receptionist at the Covington and Burling law firm in the 1950s and then worked in fashion merchandising at Garfinckel's and Saks Fifth Avenue department stories in the 1960s, rising to bridal and couture buyer at Garfinckel's.
Miss Clampitt began volunteering at the Smithsonian and then was hired in the 1970s as weekend program coordinator for its Visitor Information and Associates Reception Center. She became deputy director of the center, holding that position until her 1989 retirement.
She was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase.
She had no immediate family survivors.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Margaret Squire 'Peggy' EatonTeacher
Margaret Squire "Peggy" Eaton, 58, a teacher at Forest Edge Elementary School in Reston for 29 years, died Oct. 29 at her home in Herndon of complications from lung cancer.
Mrs. Eaton, a native of Alexandria, graduated from Langley High School in McLean and received an associate's degree from Marymount University. She earned a bachelor's degree from Radford University.
She taught at Forest Edge until illness forced her retirement at the end of last year. She enjoyed gardening, making chocolates, solving puzzles and volunteering at Homework Help in Herndon.
Her husband, Michael Eaton, died in 2005.
Survivors include her three sons, Eric Eaton of Owings Mills, Jason Eaton of Manassas and Kevin Eaton of Blacksburg; her father, C. Crowell Squire of Springfield; three brothers, Chuck Squire of Kirkland, Ohio, Paul Squire of Burke and Peter Squire of Cary, N.C.; and a grandson.
-- Patricia Sullivan