HARRY BACAS

1922 - 2016

HARRY BACAS  1922 - 2016  
Harry Bacas, a longtime Arlington, VA resident and World War II veteran, who rose from copy boy to become a top editor of the Washington Star, died on Thursday, November 17, 2016 in Santa Rosa, CA after a brief hospitalization at age 94. An Arlington, VA resident for over 50 years, Harry had moved to California in 2007.Born on November 11, 1922, in Washington DC, the son of a Greek immigrant, Harry graduated from Eastern High School and served in World War II as part of the 461st anti-aircraft battalion that stormed Omaha Beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He fought in all five European campaigns and was awarded two Silver Stars. On the GI bill, Harry received his BA in English from the University of Maryland, and studied English Literature at Stanford University. While teaching at Mills College in Oakland CA, he met his future wife, Eliza Goddard Weeks, a native Virginian. They returned to Washington, DC and were married in 1952. Eliza died in 2005.Harry joined the Evening Star (later renamed the Washington Star) in 1951 as a copy boy and was soon promoted to reporter. As chairman of the Star unit of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, he led the first successful strike at the paper in 1958. He went on to serve as editor of the newspaper's Sunday Magazine, City Desk, and Portfolio sections. After the Star folded in 1981, he wrote for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Nation's Business magazine as a special assignment reporter until retiring in 1988. From the 1960's until the 1980's Harry was an avid auto-enthusiast, competing in road rallies and auto-crosses throughout the greater Washington DC area. His passion for bicycling led to numerous cycle tour vacations in the U.S, and Europe and he was a dedicated swimmer at the Washington-Lee Aquatics Center.Harry leaves a son, Alexander Bacas of Santa Rosa; a daughter, Hilary Bacas Vos of Eugene, OR; two stepdaughters, Eliza Wingate of Vallejo, CA and Bridget McCoy of Cotati, CA; and one grandchild; sister, Elaine Sharpe of Silver Spring, MD. Memorial gathering will be held in Arlington, VA on March 26.