Obituaries

Dorothy Fales Houck

On Thursday March 11, Dorothy Fales Houck of Falls Church, VA died at Inova Fairfax Hospital after a long illness.

Dorothy was born in Wilmington, NC on August 24, 1928, daughter of Pearl and Carl Fales. She is survived by her husband, Frank Scanland Houck of Falls Church, their three daughters, Catherine Stabler of Abbotstown, Pa., Margaret Richardson of Escondido, CA, and Dorothy Fletcher of Herndon, Va., five grandchildren, and her brother, Carl Linwood Fales of Hampton, Va. She was pre-deceased by her parents and sister, Margaret Coggin.

Dorothy had been a psychiatric nurse supervisor at Raleigh State Hospital before acquiring her master’s degree at Teachers’ College, Columbia University, following which she served as head nurse of the psychiatric ward at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City.

The family moved to Falls Church in 1963 where Dorothy devoted many years to volunteer work in the mental health field and in helping children with emotional disabilities. In Falls Church she had also been active in community affairs.

She was deeply loved by all who knew her and adored by her family.

Funeral services will be held at the Masonboro Baptist Church, Wilmington, NC at 2:00 pm on Sunday March 21, with interment in the family area of the church cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, PO Box 650309, Dallas, Tx., 75265-0309.

Ted Pierce

On Sunday, March 14, Edward Randolph “Ted” Pierce, 92, of Falls Church died at Marshall Manor in Fauquier County, Va.

Originally from Lexington, Ms., Mr. Pierce’s family came to Falls Church from Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1921. He graduated from Western High School and George Washington University.

During WWII, he served with the 5th Army in North Africa and Italy, earning a Bronze Star for valor and participating in the capture of the renegade American poet, Ezra Pound. The intersection of the two’s lives earned Pierce an in-depth article in the Washington Post in 1997.

After the war, Pierce resumed his career with the State Department’s Diplomatic Foreign Service, becoming one of the founders of the Diplomatic Courier Service. His last assignment there was with the Near Easter Desk, where he supervised distribution of foreign aid for Education.

Following retirement in 1960, Pierce renewed his life-long love affair with the game of tennis, accepting a position as Coach of the George Mason University team and later for the George Washington University team, leading both teams to many titles.

In his later years, “Coach” devoted himself to writing, research and his large family.

In 2001, at the age of 90, he was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch through the City of Falls Church; his home for nearly a century.

His wife, Beth Ann Hughes, died in 1977. His eldest son, Ed Pierce, died in 1997. He is survived by his sister Alic Norwood; three sons, Hughes, Ralph and Stewart; four daughters, Beth Ann, Parry, Alice and Reet; 14 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren and a large community of friends and admirers.