Cornelius Van Schaak Roosevelt, 75, an engineer and retired official of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he had been chairman of the technical surveillance countermeasures committee, died Aug. 2 at his home in Washington after a heart attack.
He also was a scuba diving instructor and a frequent scuba diver in places such as Haiti and the Red Sea. He had a home workshop where he did extensive woodworking and other projects, from repair of his scuba equipment to the fixing of clocks, toasters and collapsed chairs and chandeliers.
Mr. Roosevelt also was an amateur archaeologist, and he had helped in the removal of Egyptian antiquities from areas to be flooded for the construction of the Aswan Dam during the 1950s.
He was the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt and the son of Army Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who died of a heart attack during the D-Day invasion of France during World War II and was awarded a Medal of Honor posthumusly.
He was born in New York City, attended Harvard University and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
From 1938 to 1941 Mr. Roosevelt was a mining engineer for American Smelting and Mining Co. in Mexico, then served in the Navy during the war and afterwards. His duties there included assignments with a Naval technical mission in Europe and service as technical assistant to the chief of the office of research and inventions.
From 1946 to 1949 he was manager of the mining division of William Hunt & Co., a mining and heavy machinery firm, in Shanghai. After the Communist takeover in China in 1949, Mr. Roosevelt served as president of William Hunt & Co. in Hong Kong in 1950. He also was president of International Industries Inc. in Hong Kong in this period.
Before joining the CIA in Washington in 1952, Mr. Roosevelt was vice president of Security Banknote Co. in Philadelphia, research administrator for the Office of Naval Research in Washington and director and president of Linderman Engineering Co. in Washington.
He had been chief of the technical services division at the CIA and then chairman of the technical surveillance countermeasures committee, a position that involved securing U.S. facilities against electronic eavesdropping. He retired from the CIA in 1973 and had served in retirement as a defense consultant and on the board of Aerospace Corp.
Mr. Roosevelt was a member of the Metropolitan Club and the Army and Navy Club in Washington.
Survivors include a sister, Grace Roosevelt McMillan of Glyndon, Md., and a brother, Theodore Roosevelt II of Mount Desert, Maine.
EDMOND F. SCOTT III
Obstetrician and Gynecologist
Edmond F. Scott III, 57, an obstetrician and gynecologist who was on the emergency room staff of D.C. General Hospital, died of cancer Aug. 7 at Howard University Hospital.
A resident of the Washington area for nearly 40 years, he lived in Fort Washington.
Dr. Scott was with D.C. General for eight years. Since starting his medical career here in 1968, he had also been on the staffs of Freedman's and Greater Southeast Community hospitals.
He was a native of Philadelphia, and a graduate of Lincoln (Pa.) University and Howard University Medical School. Earlier, he was a clerical employee of the Veterans Administration in Philadelphia.
Survivors include his wife, Dolores C. Scott of Fort Washington; his mother, Fannie Scott of Philadelphia; six children, Brenda Joyce Scott, Yolanda Michelle Scott, Melanie Sherry Scott, Edmond F. Scott IV and Ernest Linwood Scott II, all of Fort Washington, and Ernestine Scott Diggs of Capitol Heights; three sisters, Marjorie Scott Grice of Philadelphia, Helen Scott Johnson of Washington and Ernestine Muriel Scott of Clifton Forge, Va.; and a granddaughter.
JOHN McDOUGALD HOLMES
Defense Mapping Agency Official
John McDougald Holmes, 65, a retired official of the Defense Mapping Agency and a member of the zoning and planning commission of Highland Beach, a historic black community on Chesapeake Bay, died Aug. 6 at Anne Arundel County Medical Center in Annapolis. He had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Mr. Holmes was born in Washington and lived in the city all of his life. He graduated from Dunbar High School, served in the Army in World War II and then went to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he graduated in 1949.
About 1950, he went to work for the Army Map Service, a predecessor of the Defense Mapping Agency. He retired in 1981.
Mr. Holmes had a summer residence in Highland Beach and sought to preserve its heritage through his work on its planning and zoning commission.
Survivors include his wife, Anastasia Moss Holmes, whom he married in 1950, of Washington and Highland Beach; two children, Linda Newton of Providence, R.I., and Johanne Greer of Annapolis; his mother, Ida Theresa Holmes, and a brother, Talley R. Holmes Jr., both of Washington; and two grandchildren.
JOHN C. SMITH
Commerce Department Lawyer
John C. Smith, 62, who retired in September as a lawyer with the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency, died of cancer Aug. 6 at the Hospice of Northern Virgina. He lived in McLean.
Mr. Smith moved here 18 years ago to work for the minority business agency, where he served at one time as deputy counsel. He previously was in private practice in Cleveland.
Mr. Smith was born in Elmwood, Neb., and raised in Omaha. He had a bachelor's degree in business and a law degree, both from Marquette University.
He served in the Army as a paratrooper.
He was a member of St. Luke's Catholic Church in McLean.
Survivors include his wife, Patricia Smith of McLean; two children, Suzanne Andersson of Melbourne, Fla., and John C. Smith Jr. of Los Angeles; five brothers, William Smith and Lawrence Smith, both of Omaha, Terence Smith of Harrisonburg, Va., James Smith of Cleveland and Joseph Smith of San Diego; a sister, Mary Frances Gayman of Omaha; and a granddaughter.
KEITH EDWARD McDADE
Gardener
Keith Edward McDade, 28, a gardener for the Army Corps of Engineers, died Aug. 1 in a motorcycle accident in West Springfield. Fairfax County police said he lost control of the motorcycle he was driving on Braddock Road near Woodlawn Way, crossed the median strip and crashed head-on into a car. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr. McDade, who lived in Springfield, was born in Fairmont, W.Va. He moved to the Washington area and began working for the Army Corps of Engineers in 1986. He also had worked part time at the Amoco service station on Telegraph Road in Alexandria.
Survivors include his mother and stepfather, Elizabeth and Charles Cunningham of Farmington, W.Va.; two sisters, Nina Josey of Springfield and Kimberly McDade of Fairmont; a brother, David McDade of Fairmont; and a half brother, Chuckie Cunningham of Farmington.
RICHARD A. PELTON
Dairy Queen Franchiser
Richard A. Pelton, 64, a retired franchiser of Dairy Queen stores in Maryland, died of complications from heart surgery July 27 at a hospital in Savannah, Ga. A resident of Rockville for 32 years, he moved to Skidaway Island, Ga., after his retirement five years ago.
Mr. Pelton was affiliated with Dairy Queen for more than 30 years and was its sole franchiser in Maryland.
He was a native of Findlay, Ohio, and a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College. He served with the Navy in the Pacific during World War II.
Mr. Pelton was a Shriner and belonged to Manor Country Club, the Mended Hearts Association and Oakdale Memorial Methodist Church in Olney.
His first marriage, to Marion Pelton, ended in divorce.
His second wife, Betty Kimmel Pelton, died in 1984.
Survivors include his wife, Shirley Pelton of Skidaway Island; his mother, Agnes Pelton of Daytona Beach, Fla.; his father, Joseph T. Pelton of Rocky River, Ohio; a son from his first marriage, Jeffrey Pelton of Bozeman, Mont.; a son from his second marriage, Scott Richard Pelton, of Boca Raton, Fla.; a brother, Dean Pelton of Daytona Beach, Fla.; five step-children from his second marriage, Lewis Kimmel of Kensington, Betty Mayo of Greensboro, N.C., Carlan Foltz of Surfside Beach, S.C., and Roger Kimmel and Douglas Kimmel, both of Gaithersburg; four step-children from his third marriage, Sheryl Evans of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Shelly Hall of Washington, Shawn White of Houston and Shannon Hall of Dallas; and 19 grandchildren.
RICHARD W. BECKWITH
Dow Chemical Official
Richard W. Beckwith, 77, retired Washington office manager for the Dow Chemical Corp., died of sepsis Aug. 6 at Reston Hospital Center. A week earlier, he had moved to Reston from Bethesda, where he had lived for 31 years.
Mr. Beckwith worked for Dow for 35 years, the last five as Washington manager. He retired in 1980.
Earlier, he was government relations manager here, manager of plastics in Dow's Boston office and a sales agent in Chicago.
He also worked for Commerical Credit Co. in Saginaw, Mich.
A native of Jackson, Mich., Mr. Beckwith attended the University of Michigan.
He belonged to the Society of Plastics Engineers, the University Club and Kenwood Golf and Country Club.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret Riley Beckwith, and a daughter, Margaret Beckwith Magee, both of Reston; and two grandchildren.
ELIZABETH SMITH POWELL
Suburban Hospital Trustee
Elizabeth Smith Powell, 82, a 25-year member of the board of trustees at Suburban Hospital, died of cancer July 23 at her home in Santa Barbara, Calif., where she had lived since moving from Bethesda in 1978.
A resident of the Washington area for more than 40 years, Mrs. Powell was also on the advisory board of the National Arboretum and was former president of National Capital Area Federation of Garden Clubs.
She was born in Bozeman, Mont., and attended Montana State University.
Her husband, Benjamin A. Powell, died in 1958. She is survived by a brother, Justin M. Smith, of Bellvue, Wash.
HERBERT L. LOVELL
Retired Painter
Herbert L. Lovell, 89, a former painter at St. Elizabeths Hospital who retired on disability in 1950, died of an aneurysm Aug. 7 at a hospital in New Port Richey, Fla. A 24-year resident of the Washington area, he moved from Congress Heights to New Port Richey in 1974.
Mr. Lovell was a native of Odenville, Ala. He worked at the Washington Navy Yard during World War II and at St. Elizabeths for four years after the war.
Survivors include his wife, Georgia Lovell and a son, Herbert E. Lovell, both of Hudson, Fla., five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
