1961
Events that took place in Fairfax County in 1961:
January
- January 4 - 31-year-old Henrietta E. Heinz is struck and killed by 28-year-old Harold L. Diffenderfer as she crosses Route 1 in Alexandria. Diffenderfer was drunk and fled the scene, but was eventually arrested and charged.[1]
- January 7 - 38-year-old Thomas B. Blevinns is killed outside his home at 1310 Annandale Road by 44-year-old Falls Church resident Dale E. Farringer when Farringer strikes Blevinns with his automobile.[2]
February
- February 6 – The Fairfax Hospital opens for its first day of operations.[3]
- February 21 – 20-year-old Bonnie J. Parker smothers her four-week-old daughter Terrie with a pillow at her parent's house at 2117 Holmes Run Drive in the Holmes Run Acres neighborhood of Falls Church.[4][5]
April
- April 4 – The Fairfax County School Board formally appoints 47-year-old Earl C. Funderburk as the new superintendent of the Fairfax County Public Schools system, effective July 1.[6]
- April 5 – Robert E. Simon, Jr. confirms that his Palindrome Company has purchased 6750 acres of the Sunset Hills Farm from the Lefcourt Realty Corporation.[7]
- April 13 – 9-year-old Groveton Elementary School fourth grader Teresa Ann Luscynski is killed by 17-year-old student school bus driver Harry F. Scott, Jr. when she bends over to pick up her umbrella after getting off the bus and is run over by Scott.[8]
June
- June 3 – 4-year-old Kevin D. Kilduff spoils his family's Saturday outing by drowning in the Fort Belvoir reservoir.[9]
- June 7 – 52-year-old contractor Emerson H. Brown commits suicide with a shotgun in a wooded area near the intersection of Beulah and Ayr Hill Roads in Vienna.[10]
- June 13 – 17-year-old Michael Kephart drowns while trying to swim to a raft in the middle of Timberlake in Oakton.[11]
- June 25 – 13-year-old Suzanne V. Gaylord drowns while swimming in Lake Fairfax.[12]
July
- July 1 – The town of Fairfax officially becomes a second-class city.
- July 4 – The nude, bound, strangled corpse of 22-year-old Marta Santa Cruz is found in the South Run in Lorton by teenagers Harry Shaver and Billy Robertson. She is estimated to have been dead for two to three days.[13]
August
- August 26 – 30-year-old Shirley J. Harris fatally shoots 45-year-old John T. Lambert in Lambert's yard in Herndon to settle an argument.[14]
- August 27 – After borrowing a 20-gauge double-barreled shotgun from a relative, 42-year-old Edward L. Skinner shoots his 31-year-old wife Shirley to death, then commits suicide in the couple's home at 413 Egan Drive in Fairfax.[15]
September
- September 8 – The City of Fairfax dedicates the new Goose Creek Water Treatment Plant in Loudoun County.[16]
- September 28 – The Rose Hill Shopping Center opens in Alexandria.[17]
Crime
36 people were killed in traffic crashes in Fairfax County in 1961.[18]
References
- ↑ "Hearing is Set in Fairfax Hit-Run Death." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): B3. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Jan 06 1961. Web. 3 Jan. 2012.
- ↑ "Auto Kills Householder in Highway." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): B16. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Jan 08 1961. Web. 16 Dec. 2011.
- ↑ O'Neill, Jeff. "New Fairfax Hospital Opens to Stir of Flowers, Beeps, Waiting Stork." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Feb 07 1961. ProQuest. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
- ↑ "Mother Held After Baby's Suffocation." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Feb 22 1961. ProQuest. Web. 18 Feb. 2018.
- ↑ "Mother, 20, Charged in Baby's Death" Evening Star, 22 Feb. 1961, Holiday, p. 27. NewsBank. Accessed 18 Feb. 2018.
- ↑ "Virginia Briefs: Funderburk Named."Evening Star, 5 Apr. 1961, Night Final, p. 30. NewsBank. Accessed 21 Jan. 2018.
- ↑ Willmann, John B. "Sunset Hills is Sold for $12.8 Million." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): C22. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). Apr 06 1961. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.
- ↑ Chapman, William. "School Bus Rules Probed by Fairfax in Death of Child." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): A3. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1994). Apr 15 1961. Web. 6 Feb. 2012.
- ↑ "Boy, 4, Drowns at Ft. Belvoir." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Jun 04 1961. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2016 .
- ↑ "Builder found Shot to Death." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Jun 08 1961. ProQuest. Web. 10 May 2014 .
- ↑ "2 Maryland Youths Drown in Bay; One from Fairfax Perishes in Lake." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 2. Jun 14 1961. ProQuest. Web. 11 July 2014.
- ↑ "Falls Church Girl Drowns in Lake." Evening Star, 26 Jun. 1961, Night Final, p. 23. NewsBank. Accessed 2 Jan. 2018.
- ↑ Lewis, Alfred E., and Philip D. Kopper. "Police Push Search for Girl Slayer." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 2. Jul 06 1961. ProQuest. Web. 2 June 2014.
- ↑ "Man Indicted in Fatal Shooting." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Sep 13 1961. ProQuest. Web. 13 Aug. 2016.
- ↑ "Fairfax Man Kills His Wife and Himself." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): A3. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). Aug 28 1961. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
- ↑ "Fairfax City Opens New Water Plant." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): C9. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). Sep 08 1961. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
- ↑ "New Rose Hill Shop Center Opens Tomorrow." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Sep 27 1961. ProQuest. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.
- ↑ Associated Press. "Fairfax Leads Virginia in Road Deaths." Evening Star, 10 Dec. 1962, Three Star, p. 32. NewsBank. Accessed 12 Jan. 2018.
| Fairfax County by Year | ||||
| 1960 | · | 1961 | · | 1962 |
