HomeFairfax General ForumArrest/Ticket SearchWiki newPictures/VideosChatArticlesLinksAbout
Fairfax County General :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Melvin Bowman Landes Best FCPS principal only had High school diploma
Posted by: FUCJJ ()
Date: May 27, 2016 11:08PM

Melvin Bowman Landes

Alexandria Principal

Melvin Bowman Landes, 96, who was a principal of Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria for nearly 30 years, died of pneumonia July 29 at the Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Alexandria.

Mr. Landes began his teaching career at age 18 in a two-room school in Rockingham County, near Harrisonburg, Va. He became principal at Mathias Junior High School in Mathias, W.Va., in 1930. Five years later, he came to Fairfax County as a seventh-grade teacher and principal of Vienna Elementary School.

From 1937 to 1938, he was principal of Groveton Elementary in Alexandria. He was principal of Lee-Jackson Elementary in Mathews, Va., from 1940 to 1945. He worked at Mount Vernon High School from 1945 until his retirement in 1973. The school's stadium bears his name.

Mr. Landes, a Harrisonburg native, graduated from McPherson College in Kansas and received a master's degree in business from George Washington University.

He lived in the Washington area for 38 years, before leaving Alexandria in 1973 to move to Mathews. He returned to the Washington area in 1999 and was living in Alexandria when he died.

Mr. Landes was considered "the dean" of Fairfax County educators. He was a member of Phi Delta Kappa professional education society and the National Education Association.

He was an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and preached at churches into his eighties. He also was a former deacon and Sunday school teacher at Groveton Baptist Church in Alexandria and Mathews Baptist Church in Mathews.

His wife of more than 50 years, Ava Mae Strawderman Landes, died in 1991.

Survivors include two daughters, Roberta Jeanne Landes Roberts of Midland and Paula Gaye Landes Givens of Stafford; one brother; one grandson; and one great-granddaughter.

Keith Fort

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Melvin Bowman Landes Best FCPS principal only had High school diploma
Posted by: inaccurate title for old news ()
Date: May 28, 2016 12:54AM

Melvin Landes died in 2004.

Why did OP post an obituary that is nearly twelve years old with a title that is clearly inaccurate?

Options: ReplyQuote


Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 **     **  **     **  ********   *******   ********  
 **     **   **   **   **    **  **     **  **     ** 
 **     **    ** **        **    **     **  **     ** 
 **     **     ***        **      ********  **     ** 
  **   **     ** **      **             **  **     ** 
   ** **     **   **     **      **     **  **     ** 
    ***     **     **    **       *******   ********  
This forum powered by Phorum.