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Subject: D.C. Statehood Party Activist Dies After Fire;Frederic A. Heutte, One of
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 04:53:56 EST
Message-ID: <45.1992Nov18.045356@AmeriCast.com>

D.C. Statehood Party Activist Dies After Fire;Frederic A. Heutte,
One of Group's Founders, Called 'Dedicated'<By Martin
Weil=Washington Post Staff Writer=

Frederic A. Heutte, 65, one of the founders of the D.C. Statehood
Party and a veteran civic activist, died yesterday after a fire
at his home in the Brookland area of Northeast Washington.

His wife, Anne, said he collapsed shortly after dragging a smold-
ering couch from the couple's home in the 1600 block of Newton
Street NE. She said she understood that his death was attributed
to cardiac arrest.

Fire officials said rescue personnel went to the house after re-
ceiving a call about 1:20 a.m., began administering cardiopul-
monary resuscitation and continued while taking Heutte to Provi-
dence Hospital.

Police said he was pronounced dead there at 2:17 a.m. A police
spokesman said it was his understanding that the cause of death
had not been determined.

"My heart is very broken," said Hilda H. M. Mason, an At-Large
member of the D.C. Council who is a Statehood Party member. "He
was very active and very dedicated in trying to get statehood for
the District of Columbia."

Heutte (whose name is pronounced Hewitt) "worked with (Statehood
Party founder) Julius Hobson and all of us from way back," Mason
said.  Heutte's wife said his work for the Statehood Party was
not the sort that won him mention in news accounts. She called
him "a background person . . .  a thinker and organizer and ar-
guer."

Active in behalf of the party's candidates in the recent elec-
tions, Heutte "did whatever needed to be done in the party," said
Susan Griffin, chairman of the party, which has a registration of
about 3,100. "At two of our last functions," she said, "he was
playing the saxophone . . .  (and) very well I might add."

Heutte, who played in a Marine Corps band while stationed in
Quantico in 1945 and 1946, retired about five years ago after 30
years as a music librarian at the University of Maryland, family
members said.

A native of Fall River, Mass., he was reared in Norfolk and stu-
died there at what is now Old Dominion University before receiv-
ing a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami.  He came to
the Washington area about 40 years ago for graduate study in
music and library science at Catholic University.

Fire officials said they have not determined what ignited the
couch but are looking into the possibility that it may have been
smoking materials.<02:35 11-18C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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