William H. Rumsey, Sr., COL 1/317, 1st Bde

November 9, 2001

William Rumsey Dies; D.C. Educator, Official

By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 16, 2001; Page B06

William H. Rumsey Sr., 78, who spent more than 40 years as a Washington educator and who was director of the D.C. Recreation Department from 1976 to 1983, died Nov. 9 at Holy Cross Hospital.He had pneumonia and Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Rumsey started his career in 1939 as a recreation aide in charge of shower maintenance at the old Dunbar High School pool.By the 1960s, he was a high-profile educator who oversaw a night-school diploma program for dropouts, was principal at McKinley Technical High School and chief education adviser to then-Mayor Walter E. Washington before arriving at the Recreation Department as deputy director in 1974.

As director, he brought the city its first marathon, in 1981.It fizzled out by the late 1980s but is being revived next spring, said his son, William H. Rumsey Jr., chief of staff to D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D).

William Henry Rumsey Sr. was born in Alexandria and grew up in Washington, where he was a graduate of Dunbar High School and Howard University.He received a master's degree in administration and supervision of secondary schools from George Washington University and a doctorate in psychology from Florida East Coast University.

He served in the Army in Europe during World War II and saw combat during the Battle of the Bulge.He retired from the Army Reserve in 1983 as a colonel.His decorations included the Bronze Star.

In the early 1950s, he was back in Washington, teaching physical education and business at Shaw Junior High School.By the early 1960s, he was assistant principal at Dunbar and liaison officer on the President's Committee for Washington Action for Youth.

In the mid-1960s, he was principal of the School to Aid Youth night program at Spingarn High, which helps high school dropouts earn a diploma.He had hot dinners brought to the school cafeteria to help students stay enrolled.

As principal of McKinley Technical High School from 1969 to 1971, he led the District's first attempt to implement a system to divide the academic year into four nine-week quarters.An alternative to classes that lasted all year, the system was designed to offer a wider menu of courses and discourage students from skipping classes.

"I seriously feel that unless we change the traditional lock-step kind of education, we will continue to fill the blocks with youngsters who just leave school because it is not exciting or relevant for them," he told The Washington Post in 1969.

After a failed bid in 1970 to become superintendent of schools, he was appointed the next year to head the educational affairs office in the D.C. Human Relations Department, which made him liaison between city government and the school board.He also oversaw the city's public colleges, the public library and programs to train the unemployed.

In 1979, he led the mayor's task force to plan for Pope John Paul II's visit to Washington.

He was former youth program director and trustee of Galbraith AME Zion Church in Washington.

Since the late 1990s, he had lived at the Woodside Center nursing home in Silver Spring.He still had a residence in Washington.

In addition to his son, of Washington, survivors include his wife of 55 years, Leona Cooper Rumsey of Washington; a daughter, Constance Rumsey of Philadelphia; a sister, Mary Alice Romeo of Upper Marlboro; and two grandsons.