Robert Wiltbank King
2005
Robert Wiltbank King, 76, a Central Intelligence Agency officer who later became a regional planning official, died of a heart attack Oct. 19 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. He lived in Washington.
Mr. King was born in Athens, Ohio, and moved as an infant to Washington. He graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1946 and from the University of Maryland in 1950. He received a master's degree in public administration from the University of Kentucky in 1951.
After joining the CIA in 1952, he was one of the first officers assigned to the U-2 spy plane project and was stationed in England and Germany. He left the CIA in 1962 to become an analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses.
In about 1970, Mr. King became an administrator, analyst and writer with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In 1971, he prepared an internal book describing plans for development of the Metro system. In 1987, he helped write a report chronicling the 60th anniversary of the commission. The report received a national award as the best annual report produced by a local government. He retired in 1993.
Mr. King was a jazz aficionado and played the piano.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Elizabeth King of Washington; three children, Sara M. King of Chantilly, William W. King of Bethesda and Elizabeth P. King of Oakland, Calif.; a brother; and three grandchildren.