Oscar Ellison Jr., 70, a Falls Church physician who was one of the first African American doctors to integrate Arlington Hospital and other Northern Virginia medical facilities, died of a heart attack Aug. 19 while on vacation in Spain's Costa del Sol.
Dr. Ellison had served on the board of directors of Arlington Hospital and as a member of its executive committee. He was on the medical staff of Arlington Hospital, the former Northern Virginia Doctors Hospital and the National Hospital for Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.
Since 1956, he had a private medical practice in Falls Church.
Dr. Ellison was born in Calhoun Falls, S.C. He entered South Carolina State College at 14, and he enrolled in Howard University Medical School at 17. When he graduated in 1948 at age 21, he was the youngest student to have received a medical degree at Howard.
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After medical school, Dr. Ellison completed an internship and residency program in internal medicine and pulmonary diseases at Howard University's Freedman's Hospital. He completed a fellowship in internal medicine at New York University Medical Center.
Later, he was a medical officer and captain in the Air Force and was posted at Hahn Air Force Base in Germany.
Returning to the United States after his military service, Dr. Ellison joined the medical practice of Dr. Harold Johnson in Falls Church. The two African American physicians were among the first to integrate the staffs of several Northern Virginia hospitals and medical facilities.
Dr. Ellison "broke down barriers to the delivery of health care at Arlington Hospital and throughout our medical community," said Lawrence Gaydos, vice president for medical affairs at Arlington Hospital.
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Dr. Ellison was a founding member and first president of the Beta Nu Boule chapter of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity.
He had received a key to the city and a recognition and appreciation award from his home town of Calhoun Falls, S.C.
Survivors include his wife of more than 40 years, Pauline Ellison of Falls Church; three children, Dr. Oscar Ellison III, who joined his father's medical practice in 1983, and Michele Ellison, both of Falls Church, and Karla Hoffman of Arlington; a brother, Henry Louis Ellison of Norfolk; and five grandchildren. MARY FRANCES BRECKENRIDGE Interior Design Specialist
Mary Frances Breckenridge, 91, a State Department interior design specialist who helped furnish embassies, the White House and the vice president's residence with china, crystal and silver, died Aug. 18 at Arlington Hospital. She had pneumonia.
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Miss Breckenridge retired in 1976 after 26 years with the State Department. She began as an administrative assistant in the international trade policy division and transferred to the office of foreign buildings in 1956.
She was a native of Louisville and a graduate of Sullins College. She was a clerical worker with the War Department in South America and the West Indies during World War II.
Miss Breckenridge also was a consultant to the United Nations. She helped organize a worldwide bridge tournament while at the State Department and lectured before clubs, college groups and other organizations.
She was a regent of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, president of the Sullins College Alumnae Club and a trustee of the college, vice president of the Kentucky State Society, a director of the State Department Recreation Association and a member of the American Revolution Route Table.
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Her marriage to Webb Duane ended in divorce.
There are no immediate survivors. MANNING GASCH Businessman Manning Gasch, 86, who operated a family real estate and insurance business in Washington and Northern Virginia, died Aug. 23 at Ashland (Va.) Convalescent Home of pneumonia and complications related to a broken hip.
Mr. Gasch was born in Washington. He graduated from Western High School and Cornell University, then joined his father at Herman E. Gasch & Son insurance and real estate. Mr. Gasch remained active in the operation until shortly before his death.
A longtime resident of McLean, he also had a summer home in Nova Scotia.
His avocations included local history. In the late 1930s, he led a private fund-raising drive to purchase the right of way of the Washington and Old Dominion railroad line, which subsequently became Old Dominion Drive in McLean.
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His wife, Hilda Gregg Lynn Gasch, died in 1990.
Survivors include two children, Manning Gasch Jr. of Hanover, Va., and Lynn Riddick of McLean; one brother, Senior U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch of Washington; two granddaughters; and four great-grandchildren. RICHARD OLSON DICK' RADCLIFFE AT&T Manager
Richard Olson "Dick" Radcliffe, 71, a retired manager of right of way acquisition for AT&T, died Aug. 24 of complications of Parkinson's disease and pneumonia at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Mr. Radcliffe, a resident of Silver Spring, was born in Kansas City, Kan. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces. He attended the University of Kansas.
He moved to this area in 1966 after working in Kansas City for Southwestern Bell and AT&T as a government communications specialist. He retired from AT&T in 1988.
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He was a vesper usher at St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church in Silver Spring and a member of the AT&T Pioneers of America.
Survivors include his wife, Lois "Abbie" Radcliffe of Silver Spring; three children, Stephen Charles Radcliffe of Laurel, Linda Ellen Reid of Sykesville, Md., and Dale Richard Radcliffe of Annapolis; and five grandchildren. MANOLITA PEREZ LITA' POLICARPIO Teacher
Manolita Perez "Lita" Policarpio, 71, who taught at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and briefly at Notre Dame High School in Washington, died Aug. 22 at home in Springfield after a heart attack.
Dr. Policarpio was a native of the Philippines and graduated from the University of Santo Tomas. She received a doctorate in philology from what is now the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, then returned to the Philippines, where she taught humanities, English and Spanish until 1987, when she retired and moved to Springfield.
In the early 1990s, she taught at Notre Dame.
Survivors include her husband, Ralph Policarpio of the Philippines; eight children, Patricia Martin of Arlington, Vicente Policarpio of Springfield, Victoria Koga of Naples, Fla., Rafael Policarpio, Susan Fabian, Sylvia Abellana, Jerry Policaripo and Dr. Natalie Policarpio, all of Manila; and 10 grandchildren.
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