Obituary of Clarice E. Rolfe

Clarice E. Rolfe of Olney, MD, beloved wife of Robert G. Rolfe and devoted mother of Martha LeGrand of Gaithersburg, MD, and Andrew Rolfe of East Dundee, IL, passed away April 5, 2012, at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney. She was 92. Born April 13, 1919, in Ettrick, Wis., to the late John C. and Clara A. Fillner, she was one of seven children. A graduate of La Crosse State Teachers College, she moved to the Washington area during World War II and worked at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Silver Spring. There, as a member of the lab's female "Wench Bench," she assembled components for test models of the VT Fuze, a classified antiaircraft shell detonator used by the U.S. Navy. She later met her husband, a physicist, while both worked at the former Naval Ordnance Laboratory in White Oak. She will be remembered for her devotion to her family, her love of cats and reading, and her allegiance to her beloved Washington Senators and Washington Nationals. In addition to her husband and two children, she is survived by a sister, Theresa Sherwin, a grandson, Nigel Rolfe, and several nieces and nephews. Plans for a memorial service are pending. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Montgomery County SPCA (www.mcspca.org/donate.asp) or the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse (www.foundation.uwlax.edu).