SAN FRANCISCO -- Anton Szandor LaVey, 67, who founded the Church of Satan and played the devil in Roman Polanksi's 1968 film "Rosemary's Baby," died here of a pulmonary edema. He had heart ailments.
He founded the Church of Satan in 1966 and made national headlines the next year for performing a satanic wedding, then baptizing his daughter in the Church of Satan.
The church claims more than 10,000 members, scattered across the globe. His followers, which the British newspaper the Sunday Times last year said included Sammy Davis Jr. and Jayne Mansfield, nicknamed him "the Black Pope."
A daughter, Karla LaVey, and his companion, Blanche Barton, a church high priestess, have vowed to continue his work.
Mr. LaVey, a Chicago native, was a man of many interests. He worked over the years as a lion trainer, professional organist, crime photographer, artist, hypnotist and psychic. But he was always drawn to the unexplored and unexplained, family members said.
But his brand of satanism was not about evil or animal and child sacrifices, family members said. It was more about rational freethinking and a disdain for the hypocrisy he believed corrupted Christianity.
He preached living for the day, instead of for an afterlife that nobody can prove exists, they said. He did not believe in the devil as an anthropomorphic being with horns and a tail, but rather as a Jungian archetype conjured up by mankind.
Still, Mr. LaVey played the "Satan" image to the hilt. He often was seen walking in his neighborhood, bald head gleaming, black cape flapping. For years, he kept a lion and a tarantula as pets, and he spent hours each day playing eerie organ music that could be heard on the sidewalk outside his home.
The family home, a late 1800s Victorian hidden behind a chain-link and barbed wire fence, is painted black throughout with red ceilings, pentagrams and satanic statuettes. Daggers and skulls hang on the walls next to a coffin with a plastic owl perched on top.
Mr. Lavey was the author of five books, including "The Satanic Bible," "The Satanic Witch" and "The Satanic Rituals," of which there are more than 1 million copies in print combined. Singapore banned one, "The Devil's Notebook," in 1995, saying it promoted Satanism and denigrated Christianity. Mr. LaVey's final book, "Satan Speaks," is scheduled for release in the spring.
In recent years, he released several musical recordings such as "Satan Takes a Holiday," an album that included such tunes as "Honolulu Baby" and "Answer Me."
His daughter told a news conference: "He said his epitaph should be . . . I only regret the times that I was too nice.' "
In addition to his companion and daughter, survivors include a 4-year-old son, Xerxes. CARL CHRISTIAN SCHADE Contracting Officer
Carl Christian Schade, 90, who retired in 1972 after 41 years as a contracting officer for the U.S. Geological Survey, died of pneumonia Nov. 3 at his home in Arlington.
Mr. Schade, who lived in Arlington since 1949, was born in Canonsburg, Pa. Shortly after graduating from what was then Carnegie Tech in 1928, he moved to the Washington area to begin his career with the Geological Survey. He later rose to the rank of chief of contracts.
During World War II, he was a staff sergeant in the Army, involved in the procurement of aircraft and other war materials.
His wife of 58 years, Grace Dunlap Schade, died in 1994. Survivors include his son, Carl C. Schade II of Arlington, and three granddaughters. RUTH BORTNICK KOPIT SHEESKIN Budget Analyst
Ruth Bortnick Kopit Sheeskin, 70, a lifelong area resident and retired government budget analyst who had been active in Jewish groups, died of cancer Nov. 7 at her home in Rockville.
She began her government career in 1972 with the National Institute of Drug Abuse, where she was a program analyst. In the 1980s, she transferred to the Navy's Sealift Command, from which she retired in January.
Mrs. Sheeskin, a Washington native, was a 1944 graduate of Roosevelt High School and a 1948 graduate of George Washington University.
She was a member of Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, where she did volunteer work and belonged to the sisterhood. She was named the congregation's 1972 "woman of the year."
Her first marriage, to Julius Kopit, ended in divorce.
Her second husband, Jack Sheeskin, died in 1991.
Survivors include four children from her first marriage, Barbara Kopit of New York, Richard Kopit of Silver Spring, Barry Kopit of Bethesda and Neil Kopit of Chevy Chase; a sister, Faye Kossow of Baltimore and Florida; and a grandchild. MAUDE ADAMS SMITH Deaconess
Maude Adams Smith, 103, a deaconess and longtime member of the D.C. Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, died of a cardiovascular disorder Oct. 25 at Prince George's Hospital Center.
At the AME Church, she was involved in a number of its outreach ministries.
A native of Washington, Mrs. Smith graduated from what was then Miner Teachers College. In the 1920s, she worked as a clerk for the Government Printing Office and as an elementary school teacher in Montgomery County.
Her husband, the Rev. Richard Smith, died in 1961.
She leaves no immediate survivors.
