Viola Hovsepian

Obituary of Viola HovsepianViola DeWolf Hovsepian, 84, Ocala, died early morning May 1, 2008 at Estelle Hospice House of Marion County. Born June 9, 1923 in Yukon, FL near Jacksonville to Nettie Holley DeWolf and Levant Prior DeWolf, Sr., she and her older brother, Levant P. DeWolf, Jr., moved with their parents to Crescent City, Florida when she was pre-school age. Because her mother had been a schoolteacher and because her mother thought that she and her brother were too young to ride the school bus four miles into town, her mother taught them both at home. Her brother entered school at the second grade and she joined him in the third grade at the age of six. She graduated valedictorian from Crescent City High School one day after she was 16 years old. After completing a years postgraduate courses, she entered Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University) and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1944. After graduation she married Sgt. Dickran Y. Hovsepian (now deceased) and went to Winter Haven, FL to teach high school mathematics while he went to Officers Candidate School. Following World War II he was sent to Germany in the occupation forces, and she later joined him. When they returned to the States it was to Philadelphia, where she became one of the first computer programmers for the Federal Government working on an early computer called Univac. They finally settled in Rockville, MD, and lived there for the next fifty years. Her first job there was as a computer programmer at the National Bureau of Standards and she taught school again for a short time. She then became a full time homemaker and she and her husband raised two children. She developed her love of gardening, and became active in her church and in civic affairs. Some of these activities were: teaching adult Sunday School at the Rockville United Methodist Church; working with Campfire Girls and Girl Scouts; becoming a charter member of the Rockville Citizens for Good Government, charter member of the Alliance of Rockville Citizens, regional chair of Rockville Community Chest and March of Dimes; represented Rockville in the National League of Cities and internationally with the sister city of Rockville, Pinneberg, Germany; chair of a group that prepared an historical house for use by Montgomery County Community Ministry and Community Ministry of the City of Rockville; and worked tirelessly to combat racism and anti-Semitism bringing Marylands second public housing project and improving emergency services. These activities culminated in her being elected City Council Woman, and then the first female Mayor of the city. When she and her husband decided to retire to Florida in 1996, the City of Rockville honored them with a key to the city commending them for their service through the years and honored her by naming a park for her in Rockville. In Florida, they lived in Stonecrest near the Villages, and were active in the Community United Methodist Church in Fruitland Park. When she moved to Ocala she joined the First United Methodist church. Survivors include: her daughter, Rebecca G. Wilson, Holladay, TN; her son, Daniel D. Hovsepian and his wife Tia, Ocala, FL; grandchildren, Sharon Myers, Jeffrey M. Brandewie, Daniel A Hovsepian, Cynthia V. Hovsepian; three great grandchildren and one step-grandchild; two sisters Grace D. Trice, Ocala, FL, Mary Louise DeWolf and her husband Bob Campbell, Crystal River, FL, and sister-in-law Muriel DeWolf, Mt. Dora, FL; seven nieces and nephews; three grand nephews and one grand niece.

Viola Hovsepian

June 9, 1923 - May 1, 2008