Memorial to remember Wherleys

WASHINGTON - Two of the victims of Metro's deadliest ever subway crash will be remembered Monday night at a memorial service at the D.C. National Guard Armory.

The service for retired Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr., and Ann Wherley, his wife, will be held at 6 p.m. at 2001 East Capitol St.

Wherley served as the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard before his retirement. He commanded the guard from July 2003 to June 2008.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's nonvoting representative in Congress, said she worked with Wherley on "everything from deployment and returning ceremonies for our Guard troops to funding for tuition for Guard members and for kids in camps and after school activities conducted by the D.C. National Guard."

"During his long tenure here, Gen. Wherley became more than a general stationed to work in the District of Columbia," Norton said.

Wherley encouraged all of his officers to read the book "Servant Leader," which deals with a management approach in which leaders empower those under them to help achieve common objectives, the D.C. National Guard said in a statement released after the accident.

"He tried each day to live by that creed - to serve the people he was appointed to lead," the statement said.

Wherley fighter plane commander in Saudi Arabia and had more than 5,000 hours of flying time. He served as commanding general of the D.C. National Guard from July 2003 to June 2008, where he was responsible for operational readiness and command and control of District of Columbia Army and Air National Guard units, which have about 2,500 soldiers and airmen.

Inurnment will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Wherley and his wife, a mortgage banker, were both 62. They leave behind a son, Staff Sgt. David Wherley, 36, a U.S. Army Golden Knight of Fayetteville, N.C., and daughter, Betsy Regan, 35, son-in-law John and 11-month-old granddaughter, Evann, of Charlotte, N.C.

If you are interested in making a donation to the Ann and David Wherley Charitable Gift Fund, send your checks to the following address:

Ann and David Wherley Charitable Gift Fund
c/o Lassus Wherley
1 Academy St.
New Providence, N.J., 07974.

Make checks payable to the Ann and David Wherley Charitable Gift Fund, and include the name and address of the donor on the check.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)