Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-06
ACTIVE FIGURE
RiverVictim
Had Muny
Interests

Everybody in Fairfax County
knew Charles B. Runyon. To
his intimates he was Benny.
Those who knew him not quite
so well called him C. B.
Anyone who met this tall,
rugged Virginian never forgot
his ready smile in the face of
adversely. the cowbody boots
that added to his stature, his
disdain of an overcoat even in
the coolest weather.
Mr.. Runyon, whose life ended
early today in an auto plunge
into the Potomac River, served
on the Fairfax Board of Super
visorS at a time when the
county was emerging from its
rural atmosphere and becoming
a faSt-growing suburban area.
In a way, he seemed to repre-
sent the last holdout against
the new order, but incongru-
ously was the central figure in
a reZoning fight.
Cast Vital Vote
This began in April /, 1855,
when Mr.. Runyon cast the de-
Gliding vote in a to 3 board
decision to re-zone two acres
of residential land for CONNER
cial use. The land is that on
which Mr.. Runyon lived at
1900 Leesburg Pike, Falls
Church.
Eleven of Mr.. Munyon's
neighbors took exception and
tried to upset the decision in
Fairfax Circuit Court. They
said Mr.. Runyon was "neces-
sarily influenced by personal
and monetary interests" and
could not have been "a dis
interested and impartial mem
Der" of the board.
The court a. year later
agreed that the coming regula-
tons had not been violated.
Judge Paul E. Brown said it was
not his place to rule on the
propriety of Mr.. Munyon's vote
on the board. The defendant :
had explained that he did not
disqualify himself because he 6
had granted similar requests to s
other rezoning applicants. 1
Man Of Many Interests
Mr.. Runyon, a busy man as =
president Of Runyon & Hall, :
excavating and grading con- Z
tractors. and president of Lee !
Highway Motors, Inc, soon had 5
a thriving nursery under way. :
At one time in his colorful :
life, Mr.. Runyon was a county I
deputy sheriff. 6
His more-active political life
began with his first election to q
the board of supervisors in r
1947. Running for a second +
term, he lost to Mrs. Anne Will e
kins in 1851. +
But he bounced back in 1852 a
to win an election for tie O
breaker on the board-a posi-
ton formerly court-appointed. Q
His duty was to vote only in I,
case the board was knotted at 1
3-to-3.
A year later his comeback
was complete as he defeated
four others in the newly created F
office of supervisor-at- large. r
Backed by G. o. p. =
Another quirk was his back t
ing by the Fairfax Republican h
Committee when formerly he
had served as Democrat. {
Born in Washington, Mr.. n
Runyon was educated in Fairfax v
and Arlington Schools. For is a
years he was a Fairfax S
policeman. t
He was 32d Degree Mason
and a Shriner, was past presi- v
dent of the Falls Church g
Club, charter member v
of the Arlington and Fairfax
Elks Club, and a member of f
the Mclean Kiwanis Club. d
Survivors include the widow, t
Mary; two sons by a previous j
marriage, Charles of Blacks t
burg, Va. and Daniel of Falls t
Church; three children by the v
present marriage, Robin, Is; i
Clyde, 7, and April, 7 months; ],
the parents, Mr.. and Mrs. B.
H. Runyon of 7003 Columbia /
Pike; two brothers, Russell L. q
Runyon, an Arlington police |
man, and I. M. Runyon, of 1000 S
Columbia Pike, and three sis C
tiers, Mrs. Stuart Hansborough a
of 1908 Columbia Pike, Mrs. i
Willard F. Trenary of 929 West b
Falls place, Falls Church, and +
Mrs. Mary Shoaf of the 600 r
block of Blair Road, Falls r