Deborah Miriam Freund

Deborah Miriam Freund

On Thursday August 28, 2014, Debbie, age 57, the beloved wife of Douglas White passed away from metastatic breast cancer. Born in New York, she spent her high school years in Boulder, Colorado, and graduated from the Washington University in St. Louis school of engineering with an MS in civil engineering. Her career began at the council of state governments in Kansas City as a transportation planner. She later worked for the Federal Highway Administration at the Turner Fairbank Research Center and at DOT headquarters in Washington, D.C. At the time of her death, she was employed as the National Technical Expert for Vehicle Research at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Washington, D.C. She was active nationally and internationally with various industry organizations including SAE International and the Transportation Research Board. Her contributions to transportation engineering were honored with many awards including the Secretary of Transportation’s Award for Meritorious Achievement, delivering the SAE Buckendale Lecture, and receiving the SAE McFarland Award. Married to Douglas White for 33 years, they lived for 30 years in Dunn Loring, Va.

Debbie loved live theater, concerts, hiking, birding, gardening, kayaking, bicycling, traveling, and practiced yoga since 2001. She was the chair for her local university alumni club.

There will be a memorial service on Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 2 p.m. at Murphy Funeral Home, 1102 W. Broad Street, Falls Church, Va. The family requests that donations be made in her name to the SAE Foundation at http://foundation.sae.org/.

Arrangements under the direction of Murphy Falls Church Funeral Home, Falls Church, Virginia.