CHEMIST MILTON HARRIS DIES (original) (raw)

Milton Harris, 85, a textile chemist and retired director of research at the Gillette razor blade company who was a past chairman of the American Chemical Society, died of cancer Sept. 12 at his home in Chevy Chase.

He was a past president and chairman of the American Institute of Chemists and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In addition to his business interests, he served on various advisory committees of the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation.

His honors included the Perkin Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry, the Olney Medal of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists and the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society.

A native of Los Angeles, he grew up in Portland, Ore. He graduated from Oregon State University and received a doctorate in chemistry at Yale University.

In 1931, he moved to Washington as a research associate at the National Bureau of Standards, the forerunner of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. His work was sponsored by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists.

In 1937, Dr. Harris organized an industry research group at NBS called the Textile Foundation. He was director of research of the group until it went out of existence in 1945 and its functions were taken over by the newly organized Textile Research Institute.

At that time, Dr. Harris founded Harris Research Laboratories, a consulting company. In 1956, the firm was bought out by Gillette and later was renamed the Gillette Research Institute. Dr. Harris joined the parent firm as director of research and vice president, and he retired in 1966. He contributed numerous papers to professional journals.

Dr. Harris was a member of advisory committees to American University, Cornell University, Oregon State University and Yale University, which conferred on him the Yale Medal and the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal.

He also was a member of the Cosmos Club, the Chemists Club of New York, the Washington Hebrew Congregation and the Woodmont Country Club, where he was a golf champion.

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Carolyn W. Harris of Chevy Chase; a son, John A. Harris of Potomac; a sister, Helen Rotenberg of Portland; and seven grandchildren.

An adopted son, Barney Dreyfuss, died in June.

GEORGE H. O'BEA JR.

Union Official

George H. O'Bea Jr., 64, vice president of the United Paper Workers International Union, died of cardiac arrest Sept. 7 at Greater Laurel-Beltsville Hospital. A resident of the Washington area for 15 years, he lived in Reston.

Mr. O'Bea was the vice president in charge of the Washington office of the Nashville-based international, serving as political action and legislative director. He worked for the union for nearly 40 years and had been a vice president since 1959.

Mr. O'Bea was a native of Pepperell, Mass. He served with the Navy in the Pacific during World War II.

He was a boiler room employee of the St. James Paper Mill in Pepperell before he went to work for the union in 1952 as an eastern regional representative.

Mr. O'Bea attended the Boston College Labor School and the Harvard Business School.

He belonged to the Friends of Ireland in Washington.

His wife, Mary O'Bea, died last year. He is survived by a daughter, Mary Ellen Little of Gillette, Wyo., and three grandchildren.

RALPH T. GESELL

NASA Photographer

Ralph T. Gesell, 78, a retired photographer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he helped cover manned space flights in the 1960s and early 1970s, died of cancer Sept. 10 at his home in Ayden, N.C.

Mr. Gesell, a former resident of Rockville, was born in Cresco, Iowa. During World War II, he served in the Navy.

After the war, he was a photographer in Chicago. He then became a photographer for the Veterans Administration in Minneapolis. He was transferred to Washington in 1960 and joined NASA as a public information specialist and photographer a short time later. His assignments at the space agency included photographing takeoffs and landings of various manned space missions.

Mr. Gesell retired in 1973, and he moved to North Carolina in 1985.

His marriage to Catherine D. Harris ended in divorce.

Survivors include two children, Madeleine L. Tingen of Ayden and Phillip T. Gesell of Kona, Hawaii; two sisters, Velma Kinney and Ida Britzman, both of Iowa, and two grandchildren.

JOAN W. THAL-LARSEN

Real Estate Consultant

Joan W. Thal-Larsen, 56, the owner of the Realty Decisions Group, a real estate investment consulting firm in Bethesda, died of cancer Sept. 9 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.

Mrs. Thal-Larsen, a resident of Bethesda, was born in Durham, N.C. She grew up in Massachusetts. She attended the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1956, she moved to the Washington area.

In 1967, she began a career in real estate. She was an agent and broker for various firms until the mid-1970s, when she went into business for herself. About 1980, she founded Real Estate Strategists, an investment consulting firm, and she started the Realty Decisions Group about 1988. Some of her business involved international real estate exchanges.

Mrs. Thal-Larsen was a member of the International Real Estate Federation (Federation Internationale des Professions Immobilieres).

Her marriage to Ernst Thal-Larsen ended in divorce.

Survivors include two sons, J. P. Thal-Larsen of Bethesda and Steven G. Thal-Larsen of Baltimore, and her parents, John S. White and Esther White of Newcastle, Maine.

JOANNE M. SMITH

Telephone Company Employee

Joanne M. Smith, 45, a drawing clerk in the engineering department of Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., died of cancer Sept. 10 at Physicians Memorial Hospital in La Plata. She lived Bryantown, Md.

Mrs. Smith was employed in the La Plata office of C&P and had worked for the company for 28 years.

Born in Worcester, Mass., she was brought to the Washington area in 1948. She grew up in Morningside and was a graduate of Suitland High School.

Her marriages to George H. Mulloy IV and John R. Smith ended in divorce.

Survivors include her companion, Michael P. Darbie Sr. of Bryantown; a daughter from her first marriage, Tereena Irene Williams of Upper Marlboro; her father, John R. Butler of Morningside; four brothers, John R. Butler Jr. and Robert J. Butler, both of Waldorf, Richard W. Butler of Camp Springs and Russell P. Butler of Upper Marlboro; and two grandchildren.

HELEN J. HOBERG

Executive Secretary

Helen J. Hoberg, 85, a retired executive secretary here with the National Electrical Contractors Association, died of peritonitis Aug. 31 at a hospital in Hartford, Conn.

She lived in Washington from 1941 until her retirement in 1973, after about 15 years with the contractors association. She moved from Winter Park, Fla., to Torrington, Conn., three months ago.

A native of Palenville, N.Y., Mrs. Hoberg attended Merchants and Bankers Business College in New York.

She was a volunteer staff assistant at American Red Cross headquarters here during World War II.

Her husband, retired Lt. Col. Henry G. Hoberg, died in 1975.

She is survived by a daughter, Patricia LaBissoniere of Torrington; a brother, Robert Jackob of Stratford, N.J, and three granddaughters.

JOAN TEAR

Bank Official

Joan Tear, 57, assistant vice president of NVR Savings Bank in McLean, died of cancer Sept. 5 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.

Miss Tear, who lived in Arlington, was born in England. She came to the United States and settled in the Washington area in 1960.

She had been with NVR Savings since 1981. Earlier she had been assistant treasurer with Northwest Savings and Loan in Washington, which later became Capital City Federal Savings and Loan.

She leaves no immediate survivors.

JUDSON W. BOWLES

Justice Department Lawyer

Judson W. Bowles, 80, a retired lawyer in the criminal division of the Department of Justice, died of cancer Aug. 31 at George Washington University Hospital.

Mr. Bowles was born in Washington. He was a graduate of St. Albans School and Georgetown University law school, where he received a degree in 1934. In the 1930s, he had a private law practice in Washington.

During World War II, he served in the Navy aboard convoy escorts in the Atlantic. After the war, he worked briefly for an advertising agency in New York City and then returned to Washington.

In 1948, he joined the Justice Department as a trial lawyer. In 1956, he was made head of the department's general regulations unit, and he was in the criminal division when he retired in 1972.

Survivors include his wife, Margaret Campbell Calvin Bowles, whom he married in 1943, of Washington.

ROSABELLE B. GUILLOT

Clerk

Rosabelle B. Guillot, 74, a retired clerk and meat wrapper at Giant Food stores in Rockville and White Oak, died of cancer Sept. 12 at the Silver Spring home of her daughter, Sue Wharton.

Mrs. Guillot was born in Jackson County, W.Va.

She came to the Washington area in 1935. She had worked for Giant for about 20 years before retiring in 1979 and before that had worked about seven years as a meat wrapper for Acme grocery stores.

In retirement she had been a self-employed seamstress. She was a babysitter and an unofficial nanny for many children in her neighborhood.

Her husband, Thomas E. Guillot, whom she married in 1937, died in 1949.

In addition to her daughter, survivors include a son, Thomas E. Guillot Jr. of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren.

SANDRA HOLIDAY NEAL

Lifelong Resident

Sandra Holiday Neal, 41, a lifelong resident of Washington, died of cancer Sept. 12 at her home.

Her husband, Billy Neal, died in 1989.

Survivors include their daughter, Erika Neal of Baltimore; a companion, George Johnson of Washington; their son, George Johnson Jr. of Washington; another son, Carlton Holiday of Washington; a brother, Jesse Holiday of Washington; three half brothers, James, Ralph and Herman Loric, all of Washingon, and two sisters, Ruth Denegal of District Heights and Sarah Brown of Washington.

O.M. 'OZZIE' SMASAL

FBI Agent

O.M. "Ozzie" Smasal, 79, a retired special agent in the FBI, died Sept. 11 at Northern Virginia Doctors Hospital after a heart attack.

Mr. Smasal, who lived in Falls Church, was born in Milwaukee. He moved to Washington in 1941 and attended George Washington University.

He joined the FBI in 1944 and served briefly in Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Denver and Chattanooga before being assigned permanently to the Washington field office shortly after World War II. He retired in 1977.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Elizabeth Smasal of Alexandria; six children, Rick Smasal of Falls Church, John Smasal of Huntingtown, Md., Susan Halpern of Miami, Linda Smasal of Arlington, Lisa Smasal of Richmond and Julie Smasal of Honolulu; and five grandchildren.

ROWAN L. SCARBOROUGH JR.

Navy Commander

Rowan L. Scarborough Jr., 73, a retired Navy commander who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, died Sept. 13 at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. He had Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia.

Cmdr. Scarborough, who lived in Kensington, had served 26 years in the Navy at his retirement in 1968. He had specialized in communications.

He was born in Norfolk, moved to the Washington area as a child and graduated from Montgomery Blair High School and the University of Maryland.

He joined the Navy in 1942, attended communications schools and served during the war aboard seaplane tenders in the Pacific Ocean. He suffered a fractured skull and spine in combat operations off Okinawa when his ship was hit by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft.

During the Korean War, Cmdr. Scarborough was a communications officer aboard several aircraft carriers. His service in Vietnam included duty at Camranh Bay.

He had served in Middle Eastern seas and aboard ships stopping at ports in Portugal, Italy and Turkey, and in Washington at the Defense Communications Agency and in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he retired in 1968.

His decorations included a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and a Navy Commendation Medal.

Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Katherine M. Scarborough of Kensington; five children, Katherine E. Doons of Richmond, Diana S. Greer of Annandale, Rowan L. Scarborough III of Cheverly, Lee Byron Scarborough of Kensington and Bonnie Sue Scarborough of Gaithersburg; a sister, Gloria Scarborough of Hagerstown, Md.; and five grandchildren.

LOUIS A. WILLIAMS

Optician

Louis A. Williams, 62, owner of Colonial Opticians in Bethesda and a member of the board of directors of the Washington area chapter of the International Eye Foundation, died of heart ailments Sept. 13 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.

Mr. Williams, a resident of Potomac, was born in Alberta, Va. He grew up in Petersburg, Va., and graduated from the Southeastern Optical School there. He served in the Army during the Korean War.

In 1951, he moved to the Washington area. He worked for various opticians until 1963, when he opened his own business. He also was a consultant to the National Institutes of Health Low Vision Clinic.

Mr. Williams was a member of Masonic Lodge No. 204 in Bethesda.

Survivors include his wife, Sylvia M. Williams, whom he married in 1952, of Potomac; three children, Debra Allnutt of Gaithersburg, Gary Williams of North Potomac and Jason Williams of Germantown; a sister, Elizabeth Bottoms of Alberta; two brothers, Otis Williams of Petersburg and Charlie Williams of Lewes, Del.; and four grandchildren.

LOUIS E. BASKIN

Clothes Buyer

Louis E. Baskin, 81, a retired men's clothes buyer for the University Shop in Washington, died of cancer Sept. 12 at Holy Cross Hospital.

Mr. Baskin, who lived in Chevy Chase, was born in Philadelphia and came to the Washington area as a young man. He spent his entire working life at the University Shop, and he retired there about 10 years ago.

He was a golfer and a member of Woodmont Country Club and a volunteer for the Performing Arts Society and Washington Ballet.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Ethel Baskin of Chevy Chase.