WAYNE E. MEYER, 83
Leader of Navy Aegis development
Retired Rear Adm. Wayne E. Meyer, who was the force behind the Navy's development of the Aegis weapons system, which transformed the nature of naval warfare by relying on computerized and radar-controlled missile defense, died Sept. 1 of congestive heart failure at Washington Hospital Center. He was 83 and a resident of Falls Church, Va.
Meyer was an engineer by training and the founding project manager of the Aegis Weapon System Project, the research and development program that began in 1970. Promoted to admiral in 1975, he took over the Aegis combat system in 1976 and the Aegis shipbuilding project a year later. Widely known as the "father of Aegis," he was involved with the program from 1970 until his retirement in 1985.
With 89 ships built or in construction and with more in planning stages, the system he championed is one of the longest and largest naval shipbuilding programs in history. It is considered the premier air defense system in the world and is deployed by the U.S. Navy as well as the navies of Japan, Australia, Spain, South Korea and Norway.
Aegis was initially seen by its supporters as the answer to a vexing problem of the Cold War era, Meyer told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2004. His first wife, Margaret Garvey Meyer, died in 1992.
Survivors include his wife of six years, Anna Mae Seixas Meyer of Falls Church; three children from his first marriage, James Meyer of Indianapolis, Robert Meyer of Boston and Paula Meyer of Tampa.; two stepchildren, Anna Seixas of Cherry Hill, N.J., and Eddie Seixas of Falls Church; and four grandchildren.
ELLIOT BERLIN,55
Award-winning documentarian
Elliot Berlin, a producer, writer and director of documentaries including "Paper Clips" (2004), which explored how a Tennessee town learned tolerance and respect for others when its children studied the Holocaust, died Aug. 31 of colon cancer at Capital Hospice in Arlington County, Va. He was 55.
For 20 years, Berlin was associated with the Johnson Group, a documentary production company based in McLean, Va. He was known as the company's resident expert in the varied processes of filmmaking and directed documentaries in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Japan.
He was co-director, with Joe Fab, as well as co-producer, cameraman and post-production supervisor, for "Paper Clips." The documentary was named one of the five best documentaries of 2004 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
"He had a really, really good eye," said Fab, who worked with Berlin on a number of projects in the past 12 years. When the men worked as co-directors, Berlin, a still photographer, usually focused on the images while Fab focused on the story.
They recently completed "Bedford: The Town They Left Behind," a documentary recalling the impact of the D-Day invasion upon a small southwestern Virginia town that lost several of its young men in the first minutes of fighting.
Survivors include his wife of 22 years, Leslie Harlin, and their two children, Zoe Berlin and Kai Berlin, all of McLean; his parents, Lawrence and Harriet Berlin of Chevy Chase, Md.; and three sisters, Betsy Berlin of Silver Spring, Md., Becky Trieger of Springfield, Ill., and Susan Zacks of North Potomac, Md.
