Obituary

Joseph “Joe” Michael Giarrusso passed away on September 28th, 2024, at Fairfax Inova Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia at the age of 84 surrounded by family. Born on January 30, 1940, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Joseph Giarrusso and Eileen Lucille Sportolari.

Joe was born and raised in Pittsburgh. He attended St. Justin High School, in Mount Washington, Pittsburgh, graduating in the class of 1957. He spent his childhood playing pickup basketball in Moorefield, a city park in Brookline. He received a basketball scholarship from Duquesne University and was subsequently recruited to play at Kansas State University. At Kansas State, he was an English major. He was also class president his senior year in 1962.


News

Stephen Oxenrider, a beloved former Arlington Public Schools teacher, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 12, after nearly two years of battling pancreatic cancer. He was 73.

Oxenrider taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for 35 years in Arlington, beginning at Kenmore Middle School before transferring to Swanson Middle School, where he stayed until retiring in 2007, per his obituary.


News

Atilla Kan, a D.C.-area restaurateur who dished out Mediterranean flavors for nearly 50 years, died June 13. He was 82.

A native of Turkey, Kan was noted locally as founder of The Perfect Pita, which he and his family established in 1994. What started as a single takeout spot led to 14 different locations in the region, as well as a wholesale business offering pita, hummus and other Mediterranean foods.


Obituary

Mary Ellen Craig (Age 78)

Mary Ellen Craig, age 78, passed away at her home on May 1, 2024. Born on December 7, 1945, in Cambridge, MA, she was daughter to the late Edward L. Craig, Jr. and the late Flore L. (Piston) Craig of Concord, MA. The oldest of five children, Mary Ellen graduated from the now closed Marian High School in Framingham, MA (’63). Her fellow Marian classmate, former Congressman James P. “Jim” Moran, fondly remembers that exactly 60 years prior to the day of her passing, Mary Ellen was crowned Queen of the May, a title bestowed in honor of the Blessed Mother. “Standing up there in front of the entire crowd, she had never looked happier or more beautiful”, Jim recollected.


Around Town

Tuckahoe Elementary art teacher Nicole ‘Nikki’ Reed passed away “quietly and peacefully” surrounded by family and friends last month after an eight-month battle against a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.

“Friends and Family, this is a post that we knew would come eventually, but we all thought we had more time. Our valiant fighter, Nikki, has taken the path of peace,” Janet Doyle wrote on her friend’s CaringBridge blog last month.


Obituary

The long-time former owner of Essy’s Carriage House has died.

Essy Saedi died on Thanksgiving, November 23, at the age of 76. He owned the beloved family-owned Cherrydale restaurant before its closing earlier this year. As he told ARLnow, Saedi was looking forward to traveling in his retirement.


Obituary

Charlie Clark, a dogged chronicler of local life in Arlington, has died at the age of 70.

He was known locally as the author of “Our Man in Arlington,” a weekly column in the Falls Church News-Press, and as the author of several books on local history.


Obituary

Longtime Arlingtonian and local leader Cecilia Cassidy passed away yesterday in Frederick, Maryland, at the age of 75.

In Arlington, she was best known for her housing advocacy and her leadership of two local organizations: the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, now the Columbia Pike Partnership.


Obituary

Madelin Jones Barratt, 69, of Falls Church, Va., passed away peacefully at home on September 29, 2023 of mesothelioma.

Madelin was born in 1954 in Houston, Texas to C.M.C. Jones, Jr. and Jacquelin Jones. Her father was a Marine Corps officer and the Jones family was stationed in several locations around the United States during Madelin’s childhood, including Annapolis, Md., Quantico, Va., Pearl Harbor, and Camp Lejeune, N.C. After graduating from Lejeune High School, where she was a captain of the cheerleading squad, Madelin attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Va., where she received a bachelor’s degree in music in 1976.


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