WOLFRAM U. DREWES Passed away at home on Thursday, January 6, 2011 surrounded by his family. Drewes is survived by his wife Arlene, three daughters, Kristine Dudley, Katrina Steel, and Karen Seibert, their husbands, six grandchildren, two brothers, Harald Drewes and Bernard Drewes, and his nieces and nephews. Drewes was born January 9, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany to the acclaimed artist Werner Drewes and Margarete Schrobsdorff. In 1930, his family immigrated to NYC. He joined the Marine Corps before attending the U of Colorado and then Syracuse U for his PhD in Geography. Drewes' distinguished career started in Peru to work with USAID where he established the Institute of Natural Resources (ONERN). He then moved to India where he worked as a Geographic Attache. He then returned with his family to the US to work for OAS. He completed his career with the World Bank where he developed satellite remote sensing as a means to map and determine land usage. Here he established another natural resource institute, Bakosurtanal in Indonesia, as well as other remote sensing programs in Kenya, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Locally, he worked to establish a Chesapeake Bay park and a Potomac River View park, both along the rivers he loved. An avid sailor, he navigated many Bay sails as well as a cross-Atlantic sail. He also designed and built three modern homes and was a long time resident of Bethesda, St. Leonard Crk, and most recently Bay Woods, Annapolis. A celebration of his life will be held on January 29, 3 to 6 p.m., at Bay Woods of Annapolis, 7101 Bay Front Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, 10515 Mackall Road, St. Leonard, MD, 20685.
(Washington Post, Washington, D.C., 9 January 2011)