Marjorie Christensen Singleton, former principal at Burke Elementary School in Burke, Virginia died on March 17, 2019 from respiratory failure at Arleigh Burke Pavilion in McLean, Virginia. She was 98. Prior to May of 2019, Mrs. Singleton had lived for 23 years at Vinson Hall in McLean.
Mrs. Singleton was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was two when she was rescued from drowning in the 1923 Farmington, Utah flood by Dr. Clarence Robinson who subsequently received the Carnegie bronze medal for bravery. Her father, Arnold Christensen, died in the same flood after heroically rescuing her mother and sister.
A graduate of the University of Utah, she taught school for one year in Delta, Utah. She was one of the first three women in Utah selected for Navy officer training during World War II. She served for three years as a Communications Officer at the Naval Air Station in Seattle, Washington. She married Julius Knox Singleton, a fellow naval officer, in 1945.
After moving with her husband to the Washington area in 1948, she earned a master’s degree from George Washington University. In 4952 she established the Springfield Kindergarten and First Grade, which she operated for ten years before joining the Fairfax County Public Schools. She served first as a reading teacher and then as Principal of Burke Elementary School.
Mrs. Singleton and her husband were among the first residents in 1952 of the newly developed Springfield, Virginia and were active in community affairs. They later lived in Burke, Virginia for 23 years before moving to Falls Church in 1990.
In 1979 Mrs. Singleton retired from the Fairfax County Public Schools and on Mother’s Day for the next ten years ran in the Bonnie Bell 10k race around Haines Point. She often won or placed in her age division. In retirement she also belonged to the Fairfax County Retired Educators, the American Association of University Women, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Woman’s Club of Falls Church and the Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church.
Mrs. Singleton is survived by her son, William A., and his wife, Judith, of Washington, D.C.; her daughter, Antoinette O’Neil, of Philadelphia. She is also survived by grandson, Kevin O’Neil, and his wife, Elizabeth Gummerson of NYC and a great-granddaughter Isla; and granddaughter Kelly, husband Emiliano Rodriguez and great-grandsons, Knox and Harlan, of Philadelphia.
A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, April 20th, at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel at Vinson Hall, 6251 Old Dominion Blvd., McLean, Virginia 22101.
In lieu of flowers please make a memorial contribution to the Unitarian Universalist Service Company, 689 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, or to a charity of your choice.
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