correction
The obituary yesterday of Peter Hackes failed to include among his survivors two daughters from his marriage to Mary Ellen Hackes. They are Pamela Hackes Thurston of Columbus, Ohio, and Carole Hackes Duckett of Portsmouth, Va. The obituary should have stated the he had seven grandchildren. (Published 4/22/94) The obituary Thursday of Dr. Walter Lloyd Newton, a retired captain in the U.S. Public Health Service, misstated his professional designation. He was a parasitologist. (Published 4/24/94)
Peter Hackes, 69, a retired Washington correspondent with the National Broadcasting Co. who was widely known for his coverage of Capitol Hill, the State Department and the space program, died of a heart attack April 17 at Georgetown University Hospital.
In 1987, having spent more than three decades in front of cameras as a reporter, Mr. Hackes portrayed a heartless network executive in the hit film "Broadcast News." The character he played fired a good chunk of the news staff in a cost-cutting move. Mr. Hackes also appeared briefly in "True Colors," a film about Washington politics.
Mr. Hackes joined NBC News in 1955 after three years with the Columbia Broadcasting System in Washington. Beginning in 1956, he covered every national political convention until his retirement from the network in 1986.
He also covered the funeral of President Kennedy, the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and the incident in which President Reagan was wounded by a gunman at the Washington Hilton Hotel in 1981. In the early 1970s, he helped cover the Watergate scandal that ended with Richard M. Nixon's resignation from the presidency.
Later in his career, Mr. Hackes was involved in the writing, editing and production of stories telecast each day on NBC's syndicated "A-News" program, which provided Washington stories to the network's 200 affiliated televison station.
For many years, he was a reporter or anchor on the NBC Radio Network's hourly newscasts from Washington.
Since 1987, Mr. Hackes had been the "Voice of AARP" with a daily radio program called "Mature Focus" that is carried by 600 stations throughout the country. He also served as a consultant to the National Weather Service and the Department of the Army in connection with various information programs.
Mr. Hackes, a resident of Washington, was born in New York City. He graduated from Grinnell College and received a master's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa. During World War II, he served in the Navy. He retired from the reserves in the mid-1980s with the rank of captain.
He worked for radio stations in Iowa, New York, Ohio and Kentucky before moving to Washington in the early 1950s and joining CBS.
Mr. Hackes was a member of the boards of directors of the United Service Organization and Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts. He was a trustee of the YMCA in Washington and a member of the National Press Club. He received honorary degrees from Grinnell College and Newberry College.
His marriage to Mary Hackes ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife, Jessie Hackes of Washington;; a son from his first marriage, Peter Quinn Hackes of Seal Beach, Calif.; a stepdaughter, Jennifer Halpern of New York; and two grandchildren.
State Department Official
Maurine P. Rhodes, 87, a retired telecommunications official with the State Department, died of a stroke April 18 at her home in Washington.
Miss Rhodes was born in St. Joseph, Mo. She attended Johnson Business College in St. Joseph before moving to Washington in 1941.
During World War II, she worked for the War Department, then transferred to the State Department. In the course of her career there, she attended international conferences on telecommunications. She retired in 1972.
Survivors include a brother, Emmett C. Rhodes of Washington.
Walter Lloyd Newton, 77, a captain in the Public Health Service who retired in 1975 as deputy associate director for program activities at the National Institute of General Medical Science, died of renal failure April 17 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Dr. Newton spent his professional career with the Public Health Service beginning in 1943. During World War II, he was assigned in Puerto Rico, where he did research on malaria.
He specialized in tropical and infectious diseases and served at the National Institutes of Health in various research and administrative positions.
He wrote about 50 scientific studies on causes and treatment of infectious parasitic diseases.
Dr. Newton had served on several NIH research fellowship specialty and review boards. In retirement, he had been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
A resident of Fairfax, he was born in Canada and moved to the Washington area as a child. He graduated from Central High School and George Washington University, where he also received a master's degree in zoology and a doctorate in parasitology.
His marriage to Ruth Keith Newton ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth M. Newton of Fairfax; their two children, Janet Newton Haley of Chesapeake and Robert Lloyd Newton of Boca Raton, Fla.; three children from his first marriage, Paul Lloyd Newton of Chesapeake, Va., Virginia Louise Odom of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Laura Newton Overstreet of Burke; two sisters, Phyllis Saltry of Tampa and Marjorie Rook of Tempe, Ariz.; and seven grandchildren.
Sheldon Gitelman, 64, who retired in 1986 after 12 years as executive vice president of Marine Midland Bank in New York, died of a heart ailment April 19 at his home in Washington. He had lived in the city off and on since 1956.
Mr. Gitelman was a native of Minneapolis and a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where he also received a law degree. He received a master's degree in tax law from Georgetown University and a master's degree in African studies from Howard University.
He served as a judge advocate in the Air Force during the Korean War and a trial lawyer in the tax division of the Justice Department until 1957.
From 1967 to 1970, he was a senior loan officer for Africa with the Agency for International Development. Until 1974, he was chief of the private investment division for Africa and Eastern Europe with the Overseas Private Investment Corp.
After he retired, Mr. Gitelman was a volunteer career consultant with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a volunteer business consultant with the International Executive Service Corps, the CARE Small Business Assistance Corp. and the United Nations Development Program.
He was a member of Temple Sinai in Washington.
Survivors include his wife of 40 years, Natalie Gitelman of Washington; three children, Heidi Gitelman of Boston, Joan Gitelman of Port Townsend, Wash., and Steven Gitelman of Alexandria; a sister, Delores Basuk of Charles City, Iowa; and a grandson.
Graciela Balbontin Bravo, 80, a member of the Welcome to Washington International Club and the Capital Speakers Club, died April 17 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. She had a disease of the bone marrow.
A former resident of Bethesda, Mrs. Bravo lived in Washington. She was born in Chile. She graduated from Santiago College, and she founded the Washington chapter of Alumni and Friends of Santiago College.
Before moving to the Washington area in 1965, she had lived for seven years in Geneva, where her husband, Dr. Alfredo L. Bravo, worked for the World Health Organization. He also worked for the World Health Organization in Washington.
In addition to Dr. Bravo, who lives in Washington, survivors include a daughter, Barbara DelFierro of Rockville, and two granddaughters.
Benjamin Ryan Richards, 84, a retired Air Force colonel and veteran of World War II who became an administrative official of the State Department, died of cancer April 19 at the Hospice of Washington.
Col. Richards, a resident of Washington, was born in Derby, England. He came to the United States in 1928. He was a graduate of the University of Maryland and received a master's degree in international relations from George Washington University.
When he first came to the United States, he was a stockbroker in New York. He served in Squadron A, a National Guard cavalry unit, before being called to active duty in the Army in World War II. He was a statistical control officer with the 8th Air Force in England.
After the war, Col. Richards was a stockbroker in Dallas until 1948, when he was called to active duty from the Air Force Reserve in connection with the Berlin Airlift. He made the Air Force his career, serving as a budget officer in Tokyo, California and Ismir, Turkey. He retired in 1966 and settled in Washington. He worked at the State Department until retiring a second time in 1977.
He was a member of DACOR (Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired), Argyle Country Club in Silver Spring and Annunciation Catholic Church in Washington. He was a member of Ex-Members of Squadron A in New York.
Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Ruth Cotterill Richards of Washington and Sperryville, Va.; two daughters, Anne Wood Richards of Paris and Stella Dean Richards Cadwalader of Washington, Va.; four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
