2008
Stephen G. Posniak, 64, a retired federal computer security specialist at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and
other agencies, who was also a D.C. advisory neighborhood commissioner, died Dec. 16 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at
his home in Washington. Mr. Posniak spent 20 years at the EEOC and upgraded the agency's computer networks throughout
the country. He lectured on computer security at international conferences in Europe, Canada and the United States. He retired
in 2006.
Mr. Posniak was a native Washingtonian and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1962. He was a member of the
cross-country and debate teams.
He participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and was a marshal at the 1963 March on Washington.
After graduating from Dartmouth College, he received a master's degree in political science from the University of Minnesota in
1969. He taught political science at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., from 1969 to 1972.
He was a computer security specialist with the Army and the Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium in the 1970s. He later
worked at the Office of Thrift Supervision and at National Defense University before joining the EEOC.
Mr. Posniak had served periodically as a D.C. advisory neighborhood commissioner since the 1970s and was known for
advocating increased bus service in the Tenleytown community.
He was also an avid outdoorsman and had frequently camped in remote parts of Minnesota. Last May, a U.S. attorney in
Minnesota charged Mr. Posniak with setting a fire in October 2007 that destroyed more than 75,000 acres of forestland,
including 150 buildings. He was also charged with giving false information to federal authorities.
Mr. Posniak's Minnesota attorney, Mark Larsen, called the case 'an exercise in overcharging.' News accounts have reported that
the blaze began from an unattended campfire.
Mr. Posniak's marriage to Anita S. Posniak ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Jane R. Comings of Washington; a daughter from his second marriage, Elizabeth Lea
Posniak of Arlington County; and a brother, John R. Posniak of Alexandria.
-- Matt Schudel