Obituaries

Survivors include her husband of 63 years, John James Curry of Silver Spring; three children, John James Curry Jr. of Rome, Mary Curry of Oakland, Calif., and Daniel Curry of Petaluma, Calif; two sisters; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

-- Matt Schudel

William Buckner Haile Jr. Aeronautical Engineer

William Buckner Haile Jr., 68, an aeronautical engineer who had a key role in the development of the Hubble Space Telescope and several NASA satellites, died Nov. 1 after a heart attack while bicycling near his home in Port Republic.

Dr. Haile worked for many years at Lockheed Martin and later was a senior engineer for Swales Aerospace and Alliant Techsystems, also known as ATK.

He spent more than 20 years as the chief structural engineer for the Hubble telescope, helping design the vehicle that would carry it. He aligned the mirrors and instruments of the orbiting telescope that was launched in 1990.

When the telescope sent back out-of-focus pictures from its initial voyage, Dr. Haile worked on formulations that helped correct the problem.

Later, he was a consultant and designer during the development of an exhibition about the telescope at the National Air and Space Museum.

He also worked on the Earth Observing-1 satellite, a NASA satellite designed to monitor climatic conditions around the world. It has become an important research tool in the study of global climate change.

Dr. Haile often was consulted on problems related to the unexpected flight performance of spacecraft. He was an expert in understanding the stresses and vibrations on a spacecraft during takeoff.

Dr. Haile was born in Washington and was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School. His family had settled in Virginia in the 17th century, and he spent summers at an ancestral home in Tappahannock, on Virginia's Northern Neck.

His best friend in childhood was guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, who became a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.

Dr. Haile graduated from Virginia Tech, where he also received master's and doctoral degrees in engineering science and mechanics in 1965 and 1967, respectively.

He enjoyed sailing, canoeing and other outdoor sports. He often bicycled 25 miles from his home to his office in Beltsville and in 2007 rode his bicycle 2,007 miles on a challenge from his son.

His marriage to Phyllis Andis Haile ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of eight years, Joy Ann Bartholomew of Port Republic; three children from his first marriage, Jessica A. Haile of Laguna Niguel, Calif., Adam A. Haile of Durham, N.C., and Rachel A. Haile of Chicago; a sister, Jane Haile Dawkins of Tappahannock and Key West, Fla; and a brother, Edward Wright Haile of Champlain, Va.

-- Matt Schudel

Norman F. Jarvis Army Officer, Navy Employee

Norman F. Jarvis, 92, who retired in 1963 as an Army lieutenant colonel and became a Navy Department personnel research specialist, died Oct. 31 at the Manor Care nursing home in Potomac.

His death certificate listed renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer, along with "failure to thrive" among the causes of death.

Col. Jarvis served in the Army in the Pacific during World War II and later became a training officer. His final active-duty assignment was at Fort Meade. He retired from the Navy Department in 1981.

Norman Francis Jarvis was born in Washington and grew up in Bladensburg. He was a 1935 graduate of Gonzaga College High School and a 1939 graduate of Georgetown University.

He was a longtime District resident before spending the last two years in nursing and assisted living homes. He was a member of St. Ann's Catholic Church in Washington, which named him senior volunteer of the year in 2003.

Col. Jarvis was an accomplished high school golfer and won several tournaments at posts where he was stationed during his military career. In 1977, he recorded his only hole-in-one.

His wife of 49 years, Mary Grace Zimmerman Jarvis, died in 1992.

Survivors include five children, Eileen Buckley of Fairfax County, Joanne Horgan of Potomac, Regina Teague of Hawkins, Tex., Maureen Morar of Mahopac, N.Y., and Brian Jarvis of Arlington; two brothers, Charles Jarvis of Hyattsville and Laurence Jarvis of Fullerton, Calif.; two sisters, Margaret Bowen of Greenbelt and Sheila Rice of Bladensburg; and four grandchildren.

-- Adam Bernstein

Mary R. 'MaryLou' Sharbaugh Child-Care Provider

Mary R. "MaryLou" Sharbaugh, 76, who opened her home in Vienna to unwed pregnant mothers in the 1970s and later to middle school children in need of after-school care, died Nov. 5 at her residence. She had lung cancer.

Mrs. Sharbaugh was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Vienna. She was born Mary Louise Reilly in Altoona, Pa., where she did administrative work for Merrill Lynch and raised purebred dogs to help support her widowed mother.

Survivors include her husband, Ronald E. Sharbaugh of Vienna; three children, Stephen M. Sharbaugh of Bristow, Laura S. Sinclair of Fairfax City and Daniel E. Sharbaugh of Gainesville; three brothers; two sisters; and five grandchildren.

-- Adam Bernstein

Bela Molnar Physicist

Bela Molnar, 81, a retired physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory whose work involved creating new types of semiconductors, died Nov. 5 of complications from lymphoma at Georgetown University Hospital. He was a longtime resident of the Hollin Hills community of Fairfax County.

Mr. Molnar was born in Tiszainoka, Hungary. He helped organize student protests at the Technical University of Budapest during the 1956 uprising against the nation's Stalinist government imposed by the Soviet Union. He escaped to Austria and then immigrated to the United States.

He was trained as a nuclear physicist in Hungary and at the University of Vienna, where he received a Rockefeller Fellowship. He worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories and Ford Motor Co.'s research laboratory before joining the Naval Research Laboratory in 1968.

His work involved transistor reliability and other technical issues. He published frequently on topics related to semiconductors, was a frequent presenter at professional meetings and conferences and was a recipient of numerous patents. He received the Naval Research Laboratory's Best Publication Award in 1975.

Mr. Molnar retired in 1997.

He was a longtime member of Mount Vernon Unitarian Church and was a member of the partner church committee. He also was active at Hollin Hall Senior Center in the Alexandria area, where he taught Sudoku. He was talented in many arts and crafts.

Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Eva T. Molnar of Fairfax County; and a son, David Bela Molnar of London.

-- Joe Holley