Washington-area obituaries of note
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Version 0 of 1. Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Martha Poling, 89, a coordinator of volunteer teachers in Fairfax County’s Volunteer Learning Program from the late 1980s to late 1990s, died Jan. 23 at a care center in McLean, Va. The cause was pancreatic cancer, said a daughter, Karen Kapeluck. Mrs. Poling, a McLean resident, was born Martha Peacock in Jacksonville, Fla. She was a volunteer teacher in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1984, the Adult Education Association of Virginia honored her contributions to the Volunteer Learning Program, which is sponsored by the Fairfax public schools, juvenile court and public libraries. Thomas H. Jones, 58, a truck driver with Nalls Produce in Alexandria, Va., who also had been a roofer and landscaper, died Jan. 27 at his home in Appomattox, Va. The cause was cancer, said his wife, Belinda Jones. Mr. Jones was born in Alexandria. He operated Tom’s Handyman Landscape service and TJ Roofing before joining Nalls Produce around 2000. In 2011, he moved to Appomattox from Woodbridge, Va. Maurice C. Ashley Jr., 90, a Marine Corps brigadier general who retired in 1976 from the Marine base at Quantico, Va., as a deputy commander of education and development, died Dec. 31 at a hospice in Stuart, Fla. The cause was cardiovascular and respiratory complications following an accidental fall, said a son, David Ashley. Gen. Ashley was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He began his military career during World War II. He served in China after the war and later as commander of a tank company during the Korean War. During the Vietnam War, he commanded a tank battalion and was awarded the Silver Star. His other decorations included the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. In retirement, he ran an Annapolis-based yacht brokerage and became director of unemployment security for the state of Maryland. He lived in Annapolis and spent winters in Florida. Michael C. Griffiths, 61, who had been a Washington dentist since 1980, died Jan. 17 at his home in Wheaton, Md. The cause was aortic dissection, said a sister, Jacqueline Griffiths. Dr. Griffiths was born in Washington. From 1981 until his death, he was president of Institutional Dental Care, which coordinates oral health needs for people in nursing homes, group homes and prisons. — From staff reports |