Theodore Crandall Alford

WILLIAMSBURG - Theodore Crandall Alford, MD, 79, of Naples, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va., died on Oct. 20, 2003, after a brief illness. Dr. Alford was born in Kansas City, Kan., and moved to Washington, D.C., at the age of 7, when his father became the Washington correspondent for the Kansas City Star. He was graduated from Landon School for Boys, where he was AAC tennis champion, Haverford College and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Alford served as a Captain in the U.S. Navy where he helped establish the first American hospital, Bad Kreuznach, in occupied Germany. Following his military service, he returned home to do a surgical oncology fellowship at Sloane Kettering Memorial Hospital in NY City. Dr. Alford later became one of the first head and neck oncology surgeons in the Washington, D.C., area. Dr. Alford was the professor of surgery at George Washington University Medical Center and did extensive cancer research at National Institutes of Health. Among his notable accomplishments were his significant contributions on the genetic potential for the identification and treatment of cancers. Dr. Alford was married to the late Patricia Tully Alford, who preceded him in death in 2000, and is survived by his four children and their spouses, Regan and William R. Forrester Jr. of New Orleans and Susan Alford of St. Louis, Dena and Theodore C. Alford III of Annapolis and Cynthia and Terence John Tully Alford of Portland, Ore.; his granddaughters, Tully Anne Forrester, Celine Penn Forrester and Madeline Tully Alford. He is also survived by his wife, Betty M. Alford, and nine stepchildren and their spouses, Kathryn and Jack Richardson, Nancy and Terry Mularkey, Leslie and Scott Goetsch, Carol and Rone Baldwin, Carol and Jerry Frishman, Sharon and Clark Baldwin, Tracy and Hunter Creech, Margaret and Gary Bohlken, Kam and Ron Lemberger, Ross Mirmelstein and 15 step-grandchildren. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27, at Rock Creek Cemetery, Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Street NW, Washington, D.C. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the charity of your choice.