Winifred Evelyn Waller

Known to her friends as Winnie and her Grandchildren as "Bama," Mrs. Waller died Friday, March 31, 2016, from Cardio Pulmonary arrest related to advanced dementia. Since mid 2008 she resided at Emilia Assisted Living, a small group home located in Springfield, Va., where she received 24-hour assistance from a loving, dedicated group of caregivers.

Born at the family home on May, 1921, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, the daughter of Arthur Stanley Weeks and Anita Emilie Oyarbide, Winnie was the oldest of three children. Her sister, Ruth was born in 1926 and still resides in Falmouth. Her brother, Chester, born in 1924 was killed during action in World War II. In 1941 Winnie married Maurice S. Dodge of Boothbay Har-bor, Maine. They had two children together: James, and Maurice, Jr. (Chip). However, 1944 was a pretty tough year for Winnie with the death of her husband, 1st Lt. Maurice S. Dodge, who was killed in action in World War II, her son Jimmy, from childhood leukemia and her broth-er Chester, who was killed in Manilla during the War.

In 1946 Winnie married a Navy pilot, Preston Waller, who had been stationed at Otis Airfield on Cape Cod, not far from Falmouth. Lt. Waller, eventually moved the family to the West Coast where Steven Waller was born in Seattle, Washington in the Spring of 1953. The family moved to Coronado, California shortly after Steven's birth. Being a typical Navy family, there were more moves. One was back to the Puget Sound area of Washington State, where the Waller/ Dodge clan lived on the beach on Whidbey Island, where Preston was assigned to NAS Whid-bey Island. The big move to the Washington, DC area took place in 1959, where the family set-tled in Broyhill Park, located in Falls Church, VA. In 1962 the family bought its first home in An-nandale, Virginia. Back then, Fairfax County was just beginning to grow like crazy and every-one in the family felt like we had just moved to the middle of nowhere!

While living in Annandale, Winnie started working for the Fairfax County Public Library in the City of Fairfax. She continued working for the Library System until taking a promotion to the De-partment of Social Services where she served as the agency's Payroll Clerk. Following retire-ment from Fairfax County in the 1980s, Winnie enjoyed her retirement with lots of golf (playing and watching!), knitting and crochet, (she provided crocheted hats to newborns at Fairfax Hospi-tal for many years!), and doting on her grandchildren.

Her husband, Preston, died in early 2006, and she is survived by her two sons, Maurice (Chip) Dodge and Steven Waller. She was grandmother to Andrea, Carleigh, Karen and Kimberly; great-grandmother to Ashleigh, Caitlyn, Lauren, Natalie, Savannah, Logan and Charlotte Ann.

Winnie will be interred at the Arlington National Cemetery with Preston early this fall. Details will be provided as they become known.

The family requests that donations be made in Winnie's name to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (https://donateils.org/Ils/donate) or the Alzheimer's Association (http://www.alz.org).