Wilburn McBay, 69, founder and president of Ski Chalet, a chain ofski and sporting goods stores, died Sept. 27 at Georgetown UniversityHospital. He had Parkinson's disease.
Mr. McBay, of McLean, started the chain of ski shops with a storein Arlington in 1969 after he designed a new kind of alpine ski.
He eventually opened Ski Chalet shops in Gaithersburg, TysonsCorner, Richmond and Chantilly, which later became the chain'sflagship store and site of its management offices.
Mr. McBay served on the boards of the Parkinson's Foundation ofthe National Capital Area and Sports Specialists Limited, a specialtyski and snowboard retail buying group.
He was born in Eunice, Mo. Growing up, he excelled in sports,especially as a high school and collegiate sprinter.
After serving as an Army medic in Germany in the mid-1950s, hegraduated from what is now the University of Missouri at Rolla with adegree in mechanical engineering.
He became a surveyor with the National Park Service, working atYellowstone National Park. In the 1960s, he worked as a patentexaminer for the U.S. Patent Office in Washington and attended GeorgeWashington University law school at night.
Survivors include his wife, Sharon McBay of McLean; two children,Shauna McBay of New Haven, Conn., and Matthew McBay of Arlington;six sisters; and four brothers.
Gordon Winston Wray, 90, a union carpenter and retail storemanager, died of a lung ailment Oct. 12 at Inova Alexandria Hospital.He lived in the Washington area since 1937.
In 1964, Mr. Wray worked as a union carpenter for several areaconstruction companies. He used his carpentry skills on the BayBridge as well as homes and other buildings in the metropolitan area.
He also did retail work at area stores. Before his constructionwork, he was a manager at Lerner's Clothing Store in Old TownAlexandria in the 1950s. In the 1960s, he worked at a Sears & RoebuckCo. store in Southeast Washington.
He retired in 1979 but continued to doing carpentry work for manymore years.
Mr. Wray was born in Greenville, Miss., and attended two-yearcollege there. He was a platoon sergeant in the Marine Corps duringWorld War II, stationed at Quantico. He also was with the CivilianConservation Corps, working on the battlefield at Vicksburg, Miss.
He was a member of the Moose Lodge in Northern Virginia from 1979to 1985. He lived in Fairlington Meadows in Arlington and was anactive volunteer there, planting trees and otherwise beautifying theneighborhood. He was on his condominium association's building andgrounds committee.
He was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Parish in the District.
His wife, Ruth Widmer Wray, whom he married in 1943, died in 1984.A son died in infancy.
Survivors include three daughters, Madelon Difiglio of Arlington,Jeannine Wray of the District and Margaret Taylor of Fredericksburg,Va; two half-brothers; two grandsons; a step-grandson; and two step-great-grandchildren.
Janet K. Hays, 69, a research librarian at the Library ofCongress, community leader and bicycle activist, died Oct. 26 ofpancreatic cancer at her home in Reston.
Mrs. Hays was born in Albany, N.Y., and grew up in the Boston areaand on Long Island, N.Y. She graduated from Swarthmore College in1956 and attended a semester program at American University, whereshe met her husband, Dick Hays. They were married in 1956.
After spending several years in California, Mrs. Hays moved withher family to Reston in 1967. The Hayses were one of the first 500families to live in the planned community and were deeply involved inReston affairs.
Mrs. Hays received a master's degree in library science from theUniversity of Maryland and worked at the Library of Congress from1974 to 1997, where her specialty was government law. She also wasactive in the League of Women Voters, serving as Virginia statesecretary for that organization. In addition, she was a volunteer forthe Herndon-Reston FISH (Friendly Instant Sympathetic Help), acommunity assistance program.
Her great passion was bicycle riding. She and her husband playedintegral roles in getting the W&OD rail line transformed into theW&OD bicycle trail in the early 1980s. She also organized long-distance bike rides through almost every county in Virginia and ledbike trips throughout the United States and in several foreigncountries, including Mexico, France and Great Britain.
Survivors include her husband of 48 years, of Reston; three sons,Jeffrey Hays of Osaka, Japan, Steven Hays of Reston and Michael Haysof Denver; and four grandchildren.
Michael Jay Shama, 58, a civilian planner for the Army Corps ofEngineers, died Oct. 19 of cancer at Washington Adventist Hospital inTakoma Park. He lived in Beltsville.
Mr. Shama held a variety of positions after joining the Corps ofEngineers in 1977. At the time of his death, he was the chiefplanning officer with the corps' concepts, plans and doctrine branchin Washington.
He was instrumental in creating the Corps of Engineers' operationscenter and in developing plans for managing responses to naturaldisasters and wartime emergencies worldwide. He played an importantrole in strengthening the nation's security planning since Sept. 11,2001.
He worked with military commanders in the field to preparetechnical support operations for combat forces in Afghanistan andIraq. He helped develop tele-engineering efforts, using satellitetechnology to allow engineers to solve remote engineering problemswithout having to visit the site. He also served as an adviser to theArmy Science Board and worked extensively with other federalagencies.
Mr. Shama was born in Lafayette, Ind., and grew up in SilverSpring, graduating from Northwood High School in 1964. From March1968 to September 1970, he served as an Army helicopter pilot withthe 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam and as a training pilot at FortWolters, Tex. He received the Bronze Star and 40 awards of the AirMedal.
After leaving the Army as a chief warrant officer in 1970, Mr.Shama continued to fly helicopters for the Maryland Army NationalGuard until 1973.
He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from theUniversity of Maryland in 1973 and worked as a design and projectengineer with Greenhorne & O'Mara Inc. in Riverdale until 1977. Hereceived a master's degree in engineering from Catholic University in1982.
He was an original member of the Rainbow Family Christian Centerin Silver Spring. He also was a member of the American Society ofCivil Engineers and the University of Maryland Alumni Association.
Survivors include his wife of 34 years, De Lene Shama ofBeltsville; two children, Philip Shama of Houston and Faith MarieShama of Beltsville; his mother, Jane Shama of Jacksonville, Fla.; asister, Pat Shama of Beavercreek, Ohio; and a granddaughter.
