Ronald Irwin Metz
On Sunday, August 25, 2002, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 81. Husband of 51 years of Helen Chapin Metz, of Washington, D.C.; father of Mary Selden Evans (James F. Evans III), of Cazenovia, N.Y.; Helen Winchester Metz (Perry Ketchum), of Independence, Minn.; and Grace Chapin Metz (Christopher Hunton), of Washington, D.C. Ron turned his great spirit, intellect, sense of drama and boundless energy to careers as an intelligence officer for the OSS and the CIA in the Far East and Washington, D.C.; as an executive and representative to King Saud for the Arabian American Oil Company in Riyadh, Dhahran and Washington, D.C.; and as a priest in the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Jerusalem, where he served as representative of the American Episcopal Church to the Anglican Archbishop. He was a long-time volunteer counselor to the chemically dependent; a former member of the D.C. Diocesan Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse; former board member of the Middle East Institute; former board member of the Public Broadcasting Station of Northwestern Pennsylvania; and former chaplain to the DC alumni chapter of Sigma Chi. Educated at the University of California - Berkeley, American University of Beirut and Yale University and fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Arabic, he received the Bronze Star and a Presidential Emblem for Meritorious Civilian Service for service in the U.S. Army and the OSS. From their marriage at the Hague, Netherlands, where Helen Chapin's father Selden Chapin was U.S. Ambassador, Ron and Helen lived a richly textured life on three continents, and Helen and her daughters celebrate the peace that Ron reached in his last days. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, August 29, 2002 at St. Margaret's Church, 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 (parking across the street at the Washington Hilton garage). In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to St. Margaret's Church.