Elmer Woodrow Disharoon ¹

ELMER WOODROW DISHAROON

Research Analyst, Linguist

Elmer Woodrow Disharoon, 76, a retired National Security Agency research analyst and linguist, died July 4 at Hillhaven Nursing Center in Adelphi. He had Alzheimer's disease. Mr. Disharoon, who lived in Adelphi, was born in Fruitland, Md. He joined the Navy in 1937 and was assigned to Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, brought the United States into World War II. He served in the Pacific during the war and remained in the Navy after the war as a communications specialist, serving in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington and Japan. He retired from the Navy as a chief technician in 1956, and joined the National Security Agency where he remained until retiring a second time in 1973. Mr. Disharoon was a member of the U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association, the Silver Spring Lions Club, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Phoenix Society and the St. Gerard Society. Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Dorothy Margaret Disharoon of Adelphi; a daughter, Karen E. Hartman of North Brunswick, N.J.; a brother, Henry Disharoon of Fruitland; four sisters, Beatrice Elliott of Alpine, Calif., Ruth Bennear of Johnstown, Pa., Katherine Rathkant of Princess Anne, Md., and Jean Granofsky of Baltimore; and three grandchildren. (Washington Post)