Obit: Philip Wakeford Steitz III, World War II veteran and journalist

Philip Wakeford Steitz III, a 31-year member of the NPC and a long-time resident of Washington D.C., died July 29 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 90.

Philip was a member of the NPC from 1978 to 2009. His son, David, is an NPC member.

Born in Evanston, Ill., Philip served during World War II as a sergeant major in the horse cavalry and then in military intelligence in the China-Burma-India Theater. After the war, he graduated from Georgetown University and earned a master's degree in philosophy from Columbia University.

After graduation, he worked briefly in New York and then for 10 years in Chicago as a managing editor of the Publisher's Newspaper Syndicate, distributors of the Gallup Poll and other popular columns and comics.

He returned to Washington in 1964 as the associate director for recruitment, selection and community relations at the Volunteers in Service to America. He also served as a senior director at the Office of Economic Opportunity, the home of the Head Start, Job Corps and other poverty programs.

Prior to starting his own small, independent newspaper syndicate in 1970, Philip also served as assistant director of the newly created Peace Corps, overseeing recruitment and volunteer selection.

Until his retirement in 2002, he was executive editor of the Artist and Writers Syndicate, which distributed features on topics ranging from antiques, collectibles and photography to comic strips and editorial cartoonists. He also was president of Survey Research Corporation, a Washington-based public opinion research firm specializing in studies for Fortune 100
companies.

And he volunteered as a founding board member of Helping Children Grow, a Washington-based non-profit that places children in need in stable homes.

Philip was married for 57 years to the late Marjorie Eberly Steitz and is survived by five children and six grandchildren. The family will hold private services later this month. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:

Helping Children Grow, 2120 Bladensburg Rd. NE #200, Washington D.C. 20018
or
Iona Senior Services, 4125 Albemarle St., NW Washington D.C. 20016.