WILLIAM WALKER DIES AT 78

July 20, 2024

William Woodard Walker, 78, a Foreign Service officer for 35 years before retiring in 1970 as deputy ambassador to Spain, died of pulmonary edema April 29 at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C. A resident of Virginia Beach, he was at Duke for treatment of the edema.

Before going to Madrid in 1964, he had been director of the Office of Personnel and deputy inspector general of the Foreign Service at the State Department.

Mr. Walker joined the State Department in 1935, and over the next decade served in what is now Indonesia and in Latin America. In 1945, he was named special assistant to the secretary of state for the San Francisco United Nations conference.

Later posts included chief of the Office of Caribbean Affairs and deputy ambassador to Uruguay. He also held several posts with NATO. In the mid-1950s, he was political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines.

Mr. Walker was a native of Asheville, N.C., and a 1935 graduate of George Washington University. After joining the State Department, he studied at the Canadian Defense College. From 1934 to 1935, he was a clerk in the Senate Post Office.

He was a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington. Since retiring to Viriginia Beach in 1970, he had been active in church, civic and volunteer groups.

Survivors include his wife, Jane Wootton Walker of Virginia Beach; a son, William Jr., of McLean; two daughters, Barbara Louise Hunter of Annapolis and Jane Wootton Walker of Virginia Beach; and four grandchildren.

IRWIN "JACK" JACKSON JR.

Nuclear Safety Engineer

Irwin Eugene "Jack" Jackson Jr., 76, a retired nuclear safety engineer with the Department of Energy, died of cancer April 20 at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney.

Mr. Jackson, a resident of Rockville, was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University, where he majored in mechanical engineering, and he later received a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

He also earned a master's degree in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, and he graduated from the Robert H. Terrell Law School in Washington.

In 1940, Mr. Jackson moved to Washington and went to work for the Navy Department. After World War II service in the Army, he returned to the Navy Department. In 1956, he transferred to the old Atomic Energy Commission.

He was assigned to the codes and standards branch of the AEC, which was responsible for inspecting nuclear power plants for compliance with safety regulations. He remained in that field after the AEC and its successor agency became part of the Energy Department. He retired in 1980.

Mr. Jackson later taught physics and mathematics at Bowie State University, Montgomery College and the University of the District of Columbia.

He was a lay reader at Calvary Episcopal Church in Washington and a member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Statistical Society, the Pigskin Club, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the Penn State Alumni Association.

Survivors include his wife, the former Lucille Marie Carnegie, and two children, Laureen J. Baker-Carter and Bruce Carnegie Jackson, all of Rockville; a sister, Dottie Williams of Philadelphia; and a grandchild.

JEANIE V. PEELE

Garfinckel's Seamstress

Jeanie V. Peele, 90, a seamstress with Garfinckel's department stores for 25 years before retiring in 1966, died April 27 at Holy Cross Hospital after a stroke. She lived in Adelphi.

While working for the department stores, she had done work for such people as first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower. Mrs. Peele, who was a native of North Carolina, moved here in the late 1920s.

She had been a member of Petworth Baptist Church in Washington and Montgomery Hills Baptist Church in Silver Spring.

Her husband, Asa, died in 1941. Survivors include a son, Tyrus S., of Adelphi; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

RICHARD M. HIGGINS

Pet Merchant

Richard M. Higgins, 55, the owner and operator of National Petland of Maryland pet shop in Marlow Heights, died of congestive heart failure and emphysema April 30 at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton.

Mr. Higgins, who lived in Bryans Road, was born in Pittsburgh. He moved to the Washington area in 1968.

He had been a truck driver before opening Petland, which specializes in small pets, about 15 years ago.

Survivors include his wife, Annette Higgins of Bryans Road; three children, Dennis Higgins of Fort Belvoir, David Higgins of Mechanicsville and Kathleen Bowie of White Plains, Md.; and five grandsons.

PAUL D. EDELSTEIN

U-Md. Student

Paul D. Edelstein, 22, a University of Maryland student, died of cancer April 28 at Fairfax Hospital.

Mr. Edelstein, who lived in Vienna, was born in Washington. He graduated from Potomac High School in Prince William County, where he had rowed for four years and helped establish crew as a school-sponsored sport.

While undergoing medical treatment for cancer he served as a coach for the high school's crew club.

Survivors include his parents, Carol and Jack Edelstein, and one brother, Ryan L. Edelstein, all of Vienna.

KATE CHRISSOS

Area Resident Since 1952

Kate Chrissos, 94, an area resident since 1952 who was a native of Greece, died of congestive heart failure April 25 at the Pleasant Living nursing home in Edgewater, Md. She lived in Annapolis.

She was born in Antimachia, Kos, Greece. She and her husband, Demos Chrissos, came to this country in 1919. She lived in New York City until moving here after her husband's death in 1952. She lived in Camp Springs until moving to Annapolis in 1980.

Survivors include a son, Costas, of Annapolis; three sisters, Maria Alaveras of Dondenong, Australia, Angeliki Sakelis of Antimachia and Ioanna Tedone of Bari, Italy; two grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

ROBERT "MUSSY" MUSGROVE

Sheet Metal Worker

Robert LeRoy "Mussy" Musgrove, 62, a retired sheet metal worker and pipe insulator at the National Institutes of Health, died of cancer April 28 at Memorial City Hospital in Houston.

Mr. Musgrove, a resident of Livingston, Tex., was born in Bethesda. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. After serving in the Navy from 1945 to 1947, he became a sheet metal worker. He worked for various private contractors, then went to work at NIH in the early 1960s. He retired in 1977.

He was a member of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, the American Legion and the Masons. He moved to Texas in 1980.

His marriage to Mildred Anne Musgrove ended in divorce.

Survivors include two children, Robin L. Vera and Christopher M. Musgrove, both of Germantown; his mother, Ora D. Musgrove of Burtonsville; three sisters, Goldie E. Jewell of Bethesda, Hazel R. Hartzel of Louisa, Va., and Mildred Holmes of Rockville; one brother, Gaither E. Musgrove of Great Falls; and three grandchildren.

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