Hermione Isobel “Pat” Mickle of Woodbridge and Gainesville passed away peacefully with a smile on Sunday, September 18, 2022.
Hermione chose the nickname Patsy while growing up and was lovingly renamed Pat by her late husband Edward “Ed” during their courtship in Europe.
She is remembered as a generous, caring, kind, and loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was the best Mom, amazing and devoted, who passed on her love of piano, knitting, and baking. She taught her daughters the love of family, friendships, walking, and playing games. Her daughters were truly blessed to have her as a mother and to pass on these qualities in their own families.
Hermione was born in Bombay, India, while under British rule. She and Maureen, her beloved older sister, grew up in Bournemouth, England. They survived the bombings in England during WWII.
She trained in England and Switzerland and became an excellent ice skater. She met her future husband, Ed, while stationed in England with the United States Air Force. They fell in love, and she became an American citizen and raised five girls.
Hermione was always ready for adventures, and she and Ed traveled throughout Scotland and the U.S. in campers visiting National Parks. While raising her girls, Hermione was a Girl Scout leader and a kindergarten teacher’s aide.
She studied music theory at Northern Virginia Community College to enhance her career as a piano teacher for 50 years. Hundreds of students and parents affectionately remember her teaching them piano and preparing for recitals and Piano Guild Auditions. Through the years and across the ocean, she developed many lifelong friends. She was a member of the British Wives Club in Woodbridge for many years.
Hermione is survived by her five daughters, Sandra Gunzburg (Frank), Susan D’Emidio (John), Sonia Douty (Dale), Teresa Brown (Shane) and Tina Matsukas (Steve) and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her husband of 64 years, Edward Mickle, her parents, Thomas Vaughn Baddeley and Anne Wareing Baddeley, and her sister and brother-in-law, Maureen and Alexander Sinclair.
The funeral service will be at Church of the Holy Comforter, 543 Beulah Road in Vienna, Va. 22180, on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 11 am.
Hermione will be laid to rest next to her husband at Quantico National Cemetery in a private ceremony.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in memory of Hermione I. Mickle. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Like most poeple, she came into my life on the screen.
On an early fall day in 2017, I was in front of my computer, scrolling through social media, searching for the next big story, and she appeared in my feed. Full of life, brightly smiling, holding a video camera, and interviewing everyone on the scene.
The video was on Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center’s Facebook page, but she wasn’t talking about medicine. I wanted to know more about who she was, this person with the smooth delivery and giant on-camera presence.
Susan Bahorich was at a house in Woodbridge interviewing volunteers from Project-Mend-A-House, helping to draw attention to its charitable work repairing homes for those who can’t otherwise afford it. With her storytelling ability, Susan drew you in, made you a participant in the story, and made you care about whatever she told you.
I had the pleasure of working with Susan and getting to know her over the years. I remember getting an email from the team at Sentara telling me I would get to work with the “Sentara Susan,” as she had quickly become known.
I was excited and quickly learned that we were journalists always looking for the next great story. We clicked instantly.
Susan allowed me to interview some of Sentara’s brightest doctors and tour the hospital’s latest and greatest facilities.
Over coffee and lunches, we swapped war stories from our time in TV newsrooms. We talked about the unrelenting hours and demands of the job, hairy situations we encountered while reporting from the scene, and memorable poeple in the community with whom we crossed paths and who helped to make it a better place.
Susan was an exceptional storyteller. She would send me reports about people from our community who overcame challenges, from surviving a fall through the floor or a mom who donated children’s books to the hospital following the loss of her child to men and women who survived heart attacks and lived to tell the tale.
The coronavirus changed how often we saw each other and how we worked together. Like everyone, we relied on more phone and video calls to develop ideas about how to tell the hospital’s story best. I regret not being able to meet for coffee as we once did, but I cherished the collaboration.
As the COVID crisis worsened, she was always forthcoming with information about how it affected nurses, doctors, and staff at the hospital. As reporters, we got lost in so many stats in 2020 — the number of new cases, hospitalizations, deaths — at times, it was overwhelming.
Forever optimistic, Susan reminded me that the people on the front line of healthcare in our community do their jobs every day to the best of their ability. She never forgot about the human angle to every story.
As it did for many others, the email announcing Susan’s sudden passing at age 47 was a shock. I knew she had been a cancer survivor. Still, it took a while to process the fact that the person I considered a friend — someone I could call to bounce an idea or get a trusted opinion from a communications professional — was gone.
Watching Susan’s celebration of life today streamed live from Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center reminded me that, as a journalist, we can never forget that it’s the poeple for whom we are reporting. It’s their trust we must earn every day.
Susan earned the trust of doctors and nurses who were afraid to speak on camera and tell their stories. She helped them overcome their fears by first earning their trust, guiding them through the interview process, pointing them to the camera, and allowing their best to shine through.
It’s a quality I wish more people in this business and this world would possess. Susan, you will live on our screens and hearts forever.
Uriah Kiser is the founder and publisher of Potomac Local News.
Lallie Burba Crim passed away on February 4, 2022. She was born to Edwin and Margaret Burba in McAlester, Oklahoma on July 9, 1935. She is preceded in death by her parents, whom she has now joined in the Church Triumphant.
Lallie lived in Woodbridge for several decades and taught English and Art at Gar-Field High Senior School for many years.
Lallie was a vibrant and enthusiastic woman who loved spending time with family and friends. Her single greatest love was her family. She enjoyed a long career as a teacher, having taught both English and Art. She loved art and was herself a talented artist. Lallie also loved to travel and had fine adventures with her husband when they traveled in their RV.
One of her greatest loves was the Christmas Season, both for the celebration of the birth of our Savior and the opportunity to share the joy with her family and friends. Lallie was a beloved member of the Crafts United Methodist Church.
Lallie is survived by her husband, Tom Crim; her children and stepchildren, Steven Sheard, Robert Sheard, Mary Carol Sheard, Michael Sheard, Pacquitta Laverents, Jerry Crim, and Valerie Marshall. She is also survived by her siblings, Edwin Burba, Margaret Burba, Alonzo Burba, and Joseph Burba, and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at 2 p.m. The service will be held in the Sunroom at The Hidenwood Retirement Community, located at 50 Wellesley Dr, Newport News, VA 23606. A memorial service will be live-streamed on Facebook.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association. Online condolences may be expressed to vacremationsociety.com.
Arrangements in care of Cremation Society of Virginia – Newport News Office.
Potomac Local News publishes obituaries submitted by established funeral homes.
In loving memory of Peter Angelo Leone, 88, of Woodbridge, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather dedicated to his family.
He served the United States as a colonel in the army through war and peace. His wife Ingrid, children Marcus and Tina, grandchild Kaya, and his siblings remember him with affection and grateful hearts.
Interment was at Arlington National Cemetery on February 22.
Potomac Local News publishes obituaries submitted by established funeral homes.
Mary Jo Detweiler (née Holmes), librarian, Christian educator, and beloved and adoring mother and grandmother, died peacefully of natural causes on February 25, 2022.
Born in Indianapolis to Burnham Holmes and Josephine Seymour Holmes, she attended the University of Michigan (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa) and Indiana University (M.A., library science).
Mary Jo met her future husband, the Rev. William R. Detweiler, working at Waycross Episcopal summer camp in Indiana. She and Bill celebrated 50 years of loving marriage in 2013.
After the birth of their children, the family moved to Manassas, Virginia, in 1975, for Mary Jo to serve as director of the Prince William County Library System. Upon her departure in May, 1985, The Potomac News editorialized, “Next week, Mrs. Detweiler will leave her post, and she will be missed. Hers was a voice of [library] advocacy combined with reason, of concern for people combined with professional skill. There could be no finer leader for the system.”
Later in her career, Mary Jo worked with library computer systems, provided library staffing services, taught library science classes at Catholic University and George Mason University, and served as a librarian at Virginia Theological Seminary. She also immersed herself in information as a guide for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a religious education program for small children.
Mary Jo is survived by her siblings Sally Nelson and Dwight Holmes and their spouses Pete Nelson and Michelle Burns; her daughter Elizabeth Detweiler and son Hans Detweiler and their spouses Guillermo Canizales and Julieanne Ehre; grandchildren Anna Canizales, Pablo Canizales, Esther Detweiler, and Avi Detweiler. She is predeceased by her husband and her brother, Douglas Holmes.
Contributions in Mary Jo’s memory may be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in D.C. or the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Remembrances will be shared Saturday, May 7, at 4 p.m., at River Towers, Alexandria, Va.
Potomac Local News publishes obituaries submitted by established funeral homes.
Mary Ann Burke, age 71 of Clinton, Iowa, passed away Friday, March 25, 2022 at MercyOne Clinton.
According to her wishes, cremation rites have been accorded. There will be no services. Online condolences may be left at papefh.com.
Mary Ann was born on April 5, 1950 in Lackawanna, N.Y., the daughter of Thomas and May (Capella) Mecca. Mary Ann married James Kubasiak and later married Philip Burke. She worked as the Director of Utilities in the customer service division in the city of Falls Church, Va.
Mary Ann loved to spend time with her family and grandkids. She enjoyed baking, cooking, and working out.
Mary Ann is survived by her two children, Tia (Bruce) DeLash of Stafford, VA and Jennifer (Jason) Fisher of Clinton; four grandchildren, Anthony, Jasmine, Brian, and Kevin; and two great grandchildren, Chance and Kaleb. She was preceded in death by her parents, and a sister, Lois Ann Huff.
Potomac Local News publishes obituaries submitted by established funeral homes.
Marie Eleanor Ferraro, 89, of Uniopolis, OH, died 6:35 p.m., Wed. Jan. 26, 2022, at The Acres of Wapakoneta, with her family at her side.
She was born Aug. 16, 1932, in Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of the late James & Henrietta (Esponita) Scarpati. On Sept. 12, 1953, she married Richard James Ferraro, and he preceded her in death on Jan. 19, 2009.
Survivors include six children:
- James S. Ferraro, Wapakoneta, Ohio
- Richard M. Ferraro, Phoenix, Arizona
- Perry R. Ferraro, Wapakoneta, Ohio
- Kenneth M. Ferraro, Gordonsville, Wash.
- Michael P. (Jonalle) Ferraro, Edgerton, Wis.
- Nancy A. (Andre) Paradis, Los Angeles, Calif.
- 17 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren, and one on the way
- And a sister, Joan Shanley, in Libertyville, Ill.
A homemaker, Marie was an active member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church, Wapakoneta, where she volunteered with the Prayer Line, and the Adoration Chapel. She was also a member of the Y.M.C.A.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m., Sat. March 19, 2022, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Wapakoneta.
Burial of her cremated remains will be next to her husband in the Quantico National Cemetery, Quantico, VA, at a later date.
The family will receive friends 6-8 p.m., Fri. March 18, 2022, at the Eley Funeral Home & Crematory, St. Rt. 501, Wapakoneta. Memorial contributions may be directed to Tunnels to Towers or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Condolences may be expressed at eleyfuneralhomeandcrematory.com.
Obituary submitted by Eley Funeral Home and Crematory.
Leon Edward “Lee” Piazza, 86, widower of Martha (Gochenour) Piazza, of Staunton, passed away on Thursday, January 27, 2022, at Augusta Health in Fishersville.
Mr. Piazza was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 1935, a son of the late Frank Piazza and Frances (Giaccone) Piazza.
Leon served in the United States Air Force in Japan during the Korean War. He retired as a social studies teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia. Lee enjoyed boating and sailing, hunting, and being a Boy Scout Leader. He was an excellent cook and brought joy, happiness, and humor to every situation. Leon was a loving husband and father. The most important thing in life was his family, and he was proud of his Sicilian heritage.
Surviving are his children, Ann Marie Therese Piazza of Eugene, Oregon, Paul Vincent Piazza of Windsor, California, Patrick Anthony Piazza of San Francisco, California, Nathan Frank Piazza of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Nicholas Edward Piazza of Minneapolis, Minnesota; sister-in-law, Suzanne Gochenour of Staunton, Virginia; sisters, Katherine Modras and Roseanne Piccolo, both of Meadville, Pennsylvania; grandchildren, Katelyn “Sage” Ryann Jensen, Benjamin Ross Jensen, Shannon Ellery Piazza, Morgan Emery Piazza, and James August Pumphrey.
A Memorial Service will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 29, 2022, in the Coffman Funeral Home Chapel by Reverend William “Bill” Trice.
The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Macular Degeneration Association, 5969 Cattleridge Road, Suite #100, Sarasota, Florida 34232 or the Legacy at North Augusta Benevolent Fund, 1410 A North Augusta Street, Staunton, Virginia 24401.
Coffman Funeral Home and Crematory, 230 Frontier Drive, Staunton is in charge of his arrangements.
Condolences may be expressed to the family online at coffmanfuneralhome.net.
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