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Obituary: F. William “Bill” Bauers
F. William Bauers Jr. was just 18 years old when he joined the Texas National Guard with plans of getting an appointment to West Point. But he was called to active duty less than a year later, qualified for Officer's Training School and went on to get his pilot's wings before ending up in Europe in January of 1944 flying B-26 Marauders. “It was exhilarating to be a pilot back then, to be in Europe and to be part of a force fighting against what we perceived as the enemy,” Bauers would recall of his service during World War II. “The war created a sense of urgency because we never knew when we said goodbye if it would be our last time.”
Alexandria: Barbara Ross Dies
Former deputy director of Planning and Zoning helped shape city.
Barbara Ross, former deputy director of the Department of Planning and Zoning, died Aug. 9 at her home in Alexandria. She was 70 years old.
Alexandria Obituary: Remembering Roland Branford Gomez
Award-winning theater veteran dies at 86.
It may have been Shakespeare who said “all the world’s a stage” but it was Roland Branford Gomez who lived it. A child actor since his first role on the New York radio program Coast to Coast at the age of 6, Gomez was a tour de force in the Washington theater scene from the minute he arrived in Northern Virginia in 1968.
Award-winning Chef To Head Del Ray's Sushi Bar
The tension was palpable. Only two chefs remained in the Hatsume Festival Master Chef competition in Delray Beach, Fla. Like the popular Iron Chef television show it was based on, competitors had one hour to prepare an appetizer, entrée and dessert using one common ingredient, in this case ginger.
Curtain Up
Everything old is new again at Old Town Theater.
For nearly a century, The Old Town Theater served as a venue for entertainment ranging from vaudevillian stage shows to silent films, puppet shows and contemporary Hollywood blockbusters. But after the marquee dimmed and the doors were boarded up earlier this year, the Alexandria landmark is once again ready for its close up.
The Final Countdown
Remembering the Space Shuttle Columbia.
He was just 16 minutes from home. As a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, Arlington native David Brown was going through final landing preparations aboard STS-107 to conclude what for 16 days had been a routine mission. At 9 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2003, that changed.
And the Greatest of These Is Love
Celebrating a marriage in the face of Alzheimer's disease
The phone conversation was not going well. It was 1956 and Abe Ashcanase was being questioned by a new personnel relations employee regarding a colleague at his post in Bangkok
Obituary: Remembering Civil Rights Activist, Architect Melvin Miller
Architect of affordable housing dies at 83.
For nearly 60 years, Melvin Miller was a fixture in Alexandria, known as a civil rights activist and the architect of affordable housing across the city.
Alexandria: Amazing Grace
APD mourns loss of first female police K-9.
For more than a year, it looked as if she would defy the odds, but on Christmas Eve, Gracie, Alexandria’s first female police K-9, lost her battle with kidney cancer. “Gracie was not only an outstanding police dog, she was a great family dog,” said APD K-9 officer Steven Escobar.
A Lasting Legacy: Former Fort Ward Museum director Wanda Dowell dies at 91
It was in 1965 that Wanda Dowell filled out an application to work for the City of Alexandria.
Uncommon Valor
Survivors reunite for 68th anniversary of Iwo Jima.
The morning of Feb. 19, 1945, dawned eerily quiet as Private First Class Carl Norton made his way toward the shores of the remote Japanese island of Iwo Jima. But in an instant, the 20-millimeter dual purpose guns buried in the side of Mount Suribachi exploded, erupting into one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history.
Family and Friends Mourn Death of Georgina Parks
Former ACPS speech pathologist, civic volunteer dies of cancer.
In the fall of 1967, Roger Parks was checking out “the impressionable young freshman” girls at the University of Kentucky when he met the woman who would change his life.
Alexandria: ‘I Wanted A Better Life’
Civil Rights pioneer Nelson Greene Sr. dies at 100.
When Nelson Greene Sr. came to Alexandria in 1953, blacks were the target of racial discrimination, schools were segregated and a poll tax was required to vote.
John McEnearney Dies at 87
Real estate pioneer, community leader was decorated Vietnam veteran.
For John McEnearney, helping the area’s most vulnerable citizens was part of his DNA, a testament to his family’s nearly 100-year commitment to helping others.