David Goetz, an associate counsel for the majority staff on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, died Aug. 11 after an extended battle with cancer. He was 34.

While at the committee, Goetz played a key role in helping draft the Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Preparedness Act of 2002, which delineated a key role for the department in the coordination of the nation’s response to terrorism.

“He just worked seamlessly with everybody,” recalled Dennis Doherty, chief clerk for the veterans’ panel.

Prior to arriving in the Senate, Goetz spent several years as an attorney in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps.

During the conflict in Afghanistan, Goetz, a reservist, was called to active duty with the D.C. National Guard. He took a brief leave of absence from the Senate to serve in the National Guard Bureau’s emergency operation center, where he helped mobilize National Guard units headed for Afghanistan.

The die-hard University of Kentucky basketball fan graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s from Xavier University in 1991. He later received a law degree from Northern Kentucky University.

A Bluegrass State native, Goetz once served as an intern for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

He is survived by his wife, Victoria, and 16-month-old daughter, Kendall.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 228 South Pitt St., Alexandria, Va. Burial services will follow at 2 p.m. at Quantico National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Melanoma Research Foundation, 23704-5 El Toro Road, #206, Lake Forest, CA 92630.

Federal Reserve Liaison Dies. Donald Winn, the longtime director of the Federal Reserve System’s Congressional Liaison Office, died Thursday at age 66.

Winn, who took a leave of absence last year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, had served in the post since 1980.

“Don was a gentle man of great humor whose vast knowledge about Congressional and legislative issues has proven invaluable to the Board and the entire Federal Reserve System,” Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in a statement. “His expertise and wise counsel will be greatly missed by all of us who have had the privilege to work with him.”

Winn, who also served as director of the Division of Board Members, joined the Federal Reserve in 1974 as a special assistant to the Federal Reserve Board for Congressional Liaison.

His career also included stints in the office of then-Rep. Fernand St. Germain (D-R.I.) and on the House Banking subcommittee on bank supervision, regulation and insurance.

A service will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 6001 Western Ave. NW.

— Jennifer Yachnin