Alexandria historian McArthur Myers died today after a long illness. He was 73.
City leaders remember “Mac” Myers as a kind man with an endless supply of stories who was motivated to keep Alexandria informed of its frequently troubled past. A lifetime resident and Living Legend, Myers was integral in erecting historical signage in and around Alexandria, including markers along the African American Heritage Waterfront Trail.
Wayne Wesley Frost of Alexandria died on October 4 at Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) in Arlington at age 88. Born in Seattle, Wayne graduated from Ballard High School in 1955, where he was a standout football player. During his college freshman year, he played on the University of Washington Huskies football team, then transferred to the University of Oregon. He was as an Offensive Guard on the Duck team that played in the 1958 Rose Bowl.
“Wayne did everything he wanted, and he did it well,” says his wife Mercedes, of Alexandria. He had great curiosity and became expert in many areas. He was a creative, generous and empathic person, belying all football player stereotypes. Some have described him as a “Renaissance Man.”
Welcome to Friday, Alexandria. Here’s a look at the top stories of the week.
ALXnow’s top story this week is on the man who was struck by a train at the Potomac Yard Metro station on September 22 and later died at George Washington University Hospital. Metro Transit Police stated at the time that the man had trespassed onto the tracks, and an investigation revealed that he was being chased by two alleged fare evaders: a 17-year-old female and an 18-year-old female, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
Patrick T. Garrity, a longtime realtor and organizer of the Ballyshaner’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Town, died on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Garrity was a longtime volunteer at the parade, a dedicated Ballyshaner (meaning “Old Towner” in Gaelic), and a multi-million-dollar award-winning realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty. He was 63 years old, and no cause of death was announced.
Emil LaSida, 21, a record-holding swimmer at Case Western Reserve University and a former captain of the Alexandria City High School swim and dive team, died Sept. 15.
Case Western Reserve University announced Sept. 17 that LaSida had died, but the cause of his death has not been released. A fourth-year student majoring in engineering, LaSida set the school record last year in the men’s 50 freestyle with a time of 19.98 seconds at the NCAA Division III Championships and earned All-American Second Team honors, according to the university.
James ‘David” Bailey, one of the last surviving veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, died at home in Alexandria on July 5. He was 103 years old.
Bailey was awarded two Bronze Stars, the French Legion of Honor, and the Order of St. Maurice for his service in World War II. During the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944, Bailey and his unit were taken prisoner by German soldiers. Bailey escaped and later appeared on the cover of Stars and Stripes.
Architect and city planner G. Revell Michael is being remembered for leaving a lasting imprint on the city.
Michael, who spent decades designing and approving hundreds of residential developments throughout the city as an architect and member of the city’s Board of Architectural Review, died on April 7 at the age of 93.
Alexandria Civil Rights leader Ira Robinson, the first Black man elected to the City Council after Reconstruction, died last Friday at his home in Temecula, California.
Robinson was 85 years old.
Don Dinan, the cofounder of the Alexandria Aces summer collegiate baseball team, died after a period of declining health on Monday. He was 74.
A D.C. resident, Donald Robert Dinan spent decades as an international trade and intellectual property attorney. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, and was raised in Ellicott City, Maryland, and met his future wife Amy at Mt. St. Joseph High School in Baltimore. Dinan earned degrees from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1971, Georgetown University Law Center in 1974, and the London School of Economics in 1975. In addition to being a practicing attorney, for 30 years he taught a course in international trade law at Georgetown University.
Alexandria Republican City Council candidate and community leader Townsend Van Fleet died in his Old Town home on Sunday, October 16. He was 87 years old, and his cause of death has not been released.
Van Fleet unsuccessfully ran for Mayor as an Independent in 2003, and for City Council in 2006 and 2015. He was the former president of Old Town Civic Association. He was also a member of the city’s Waterfront Commission for eight years and was a board member with the Federation of Civic Associations for 15 years.
A pair of gatherings are planned for Saturday, Sept. 24, to commemorate the recently deceased founder of local news sites Red Brick Town and Port City Wire: Lee Hernly.
Lee was a pioneer of local journalism in Alexandria, launching the popular hyperlocal blog Red Brick Town in 2006, which eventually grew into the local news site Port City Wire. Lee died suddenly in July from complications from a cerebral hemorrhage.
