June 4 memorial set for 1976 Club President Robert Alden, who died at 87 in 2020

Friends and colleagues of former National Press Club President Robert Ames Alden are invited to a memorial service at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Lewinsville Presbyterian Church, 1724 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, Virginia.

Alden, who had been an active Club member for more than six decades, died June 7, 2020, at his home in McLean at the age of 87. The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to his wife, Diane Alden. A small service for immediate family was held at the time, but since Alden died during the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccinations were as widespread as they have become, the public memorial service was postponed.

Club president for a term beginning 1976, Alden retired from the Washington Post in 2000 after more than 48 years there as an editor, making him the longest-serving editor in the paper’s history until that point. Before his death, he was the Club’s most senior past president.

He was a great friend and raconteur, and he dearly loved the Club, which he joined in 1957. He was especially proud of his advocacy for opening the all-male Club membership to women. He also participated in community planning for downtown McLean to the extent that the nationally respected, 386-seat Alden Theater there is named in his honor.

For more information about his career, contributions to the journalism profession and his family, see the obituary that the Club published.