Local
Ruth Spiegel dies at 88
PFLAG activist had two gay sons
Ruth Helen Weinstein Spiegel
Ruth Helen Weinstein Spiegel died Oct. 22 at the Cohen-Rosen Residence at the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington in Rockville, Md., according to her family. She was 88 and died of “old age” her family said.
Two of Spiegel’s three sons were gay and she had “multiple LGBT descendants” according to her son, Charles Spiegel of San Francisco. She marched in Capital Pride parades with PFLAG and had a pink granite triangle installed at the family plot at Congressional Cemetery.
Spiegel was born in 1927 to Isidor and Frances Weinstein, grew up in Brooklyn and Great Neck, N.Y. Services were held Oct. 25 at the Congressional Cemetery Chapel. She was predeceased on Oct. 23, 1997 by her husband, George Spiegel, a Washington attorney.
Spiegel valued education, her family said. She was a graduate of Great Neck High School and Wellesley College (1948) where she was followed by her sister and niece. She was active in her children’s preschool and as a PTA leader at Pinecrest Elementary School, both in Woodmore, Silver Spring, Md. She worked first at Little Brown & Co. in Boston.
While raising a family, among the other publishers she worked for as an editor was the Princeton University Press, Bollingen Series. Simultaneously Spiegel earned a master’s degree in classics at the Catholic University of America. She re-entered full-time work at the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1974 for the next 27 years, retiring as managing editor.
Spiegel lived for a decade in San Francisco largely to be near her youngest granddaughter. She was a member of PFLAG of Washington, and the American Association of University Women.
She is survived by sons John (Silver Spring, Md.), Ladd (New York City) and Charles (San Francisco); her sister Anne Miller (White Plains, N.Y.); five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Donations may be made in honor of Ruth’s life to a charity of your choice or to the Anacostia Community Museum Smithsonian Institution.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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