All Tributes

  Springfield Va. - the beloved wife of the late Sonny Johnson and a dearly loved mom and grandmother, died peacefully at her home on May 8, 2022.  Born on April 18, 1937, in Morgantown WV and moved as a child to Alexandria Virginia, she spent most of her life in the area. She attended GW High School and met the love of her life in 1952 as a 15 year old. Sonny aka "the golden toe" was a GW football player and they dated through high school and college and married in...

  Master Sergeant Meade was born November 10, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York to William and Audrey Meade. He attended Boys High School and graduated in June of 1974. On January 31, 1976 , MSgt. Meade entered service into the Marine Corp at Recruit Training Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. Upon Completion of recruit training in April 1976, he received orders to Basic Motor Transport Maintenance School, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1976, MSgt. Meade reported for duty at 2nd Bn, 3rd...

Retired U.S. Ambassador Robert William “Bill” Farrand passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on April 26, 2022 in Alexandria, VA after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. The oldest of six children, he was born in Watertown, NY on April 7, 1934, to Helen (Cain) and Robert Isaac Farrand. Bill was raised in the “North Country”, namely Adams and Albany. With a keen intellect and interest in the world, he earned degrees from Mount Saint Mary’s...

  Jean Davenport Moretti died April 25th at her home surrounded by her family and friends. A lifelong resident of the city of Alexandria, Jean was born on October 20th 1927. She was the daughter of Monroe Milton Davenport, and Rosemary Sweeney. She was pre-deceased by her parents, her brother Milton Davenport, and her husband. Jean attended Saint Mary School for grade school and Saint Mary's Academy for high school. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle in 1949 and...

  Charles L. Sims, Sr., age 88, passed away at his home in Alexandria, Virginia on April 25, 2022. Charles was born on January 12, 1934 in Harlan, KY.  He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force stationed at the Pentagon, where he met the love of his life and devoted wife of 66 years, Mary Louise Cittadino Sims. Following his career in the Air Force, he resided in Arlington, VA and Alexandria, VA and went on to become an entrepreneur participating in several business and real estate...

Donna Jean Spotts Blackburn was born April 16, 1934, in Ashland, Kansas, to Don and Carol Spotts.  Born a “Dust Bowl baby”, she had often been told the story of how her mom had to cover her crib with cheese cloth so the dust didn’t get in the baby’s lungs.  During the Great Depression, the family moved to Carlsbad, NM, Amarillo, TX, and Wellington, KS, while her dad started several businesses that went bust during hard times.  Finally they settled back...

  Mary Barelli Gallagher, former Personal Secretary to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts, died peacefully of natural causes on April 22, 2022. She was 95. Born  Mary Barelli in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, on March 16, 1927, the youngest of twelve children, to Mr. Pietro Barelli, originally from Rome, Italy and Mrs. Lucia Iacuone Barelli, originally from Foggia, Italy. Mary attended St. Raphael Parochial School and...

  Mark Allen Fitzgerald, a native of Alexandria, passed away on April 22, 2022.   He was predeceased by his parents Curtis and Alice Fitzgerald.  He is survived by his wife Kendall Fitzgerald, his daughters Martha (Brady) and Eleanor (Ellie), and his brother Michael Allen Fitzgerald. Mark spent the last few years of his life struggling with complications from a traumatic brain injury and stroke suffered in 2013.  Prior to his injury he worked with his mother and...

Sara “Sally” Armstrong Bartley, 95, died at her home in Alexandria, on April 18, 2022.  Sally was born in Alexandria, VA to parents Sarah “Lal” Cunningham and Robert Armstrong.  She was a proud “native” Alexandrian, having resided in Alexandria most of her life.  After graduating from George Washington High School in 1943, she attended Virginia Intermont College, majoring in Dance.  Following college, Sally attended the Washington...

Nancy Jane Burchell Wilke of Alexandria, VA passed away on April 17, 2022, in Williamsburg, VA. She was born on May 10, 1931, in Washington, DC and spent her entire life in Alexandria where she married her high school sweetheart, Zander Wilke on September 15, 1950. Nancy Jane graduated from George Washington High School and after a brief career doing inventory accounting for local department stores, she went to work for Fairfax County Schools’ Department of Transportation, first...