Amy F. Leber dies at 61; ran 4-H foundation
Services for Amy F. Leber, a former president and staff member of the Maryland 4-H Foundation, will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Laytonsville.
Mrs. Leber, who was 61, died Wednesday of cancer at her home in Laytonsville.
She retired last August after working as a fund-raiser for the 4-H program since 1978. Mrs. Leber had served simultaneously as a faculty member of the University of Maryland in the Cooperative Extension Service.
She coordinated fund raising for the operation of the 4-H program, for trips and scholarships for 4-H Club members and for the construction of the Maryland 4-H Center at College Park.
Earlier, she had been president of the foundation, volunteered in other 4-H activities and worked as an extension 4-H agent in Howard County.
She was honored as a 4-H All Star and as a member of the Maryland 4-H Hall of Fame.
She was born Amy Fry in Rockville and graduated from Gaithersburg High School and the University of Maryland.
After working in Howard County, she taught home economics at the Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville from 1955 until 1958.
Her volunteer work also included service on the board of thMontgomery County Agricultural Center and as superintendent of the Home Arts Building at the Montgomery County Fair.
A member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church for 55 years, she had been a Sunday school teacher, lay delegate to the Baltimore Conference of the United Methodist Church and a member of the administrative board.
She is survived by her husband of 36 years, Marlet E. Leber; two daughters, Elizabeth L. Burns of Reisterstown and Diane L. Cedeno of Laytonsville; three brothers, Edwin C. Fry of Chestertown, George C. Fry of Cecilton and Frederick A. Fry of Pasadena; a sister, Margery F. Grace of Trumansburg, N.Y.; and two grandchildren.
The family suggested contributions to the Maryland 4-H Foundation.
Emmanuel Fertitta
Fruit, vegetable dealer
A Mass of Christian burial for Emmanuel Fertitta, a retired fruit and vegetable dealer, will be offered at 9:15 a.m. today at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Ritchie Highway and Cypress Creek Road in Severna Park.
Mr. Fertitta, who was 86 and moved from Woodmoor to Arnold in 1969, died Wednesday of heart failure at his home.
He retired in 1969 as the owner and operator for 40 years of Liberty Fruit Co. The company, which dealt in wholesale produce, was on Camden Street in the path of redevelopment, and Mr. Fertitta chose not to move.
MA Known as "Manny" to friends from Liberty Road to Ritchie High
way, he made daily trips to a broker's office in Pikesville to follow the stock market with a group of friends.
Born in Baltimore, he was reared in Palermo, Sicily, where the family owned three farms, until age 9.
The family then returned to Baltimore, and he and his father had a push cart in South Baltimore, selling Italian sweets made by his mother at their Light Street home.
He also drove a produce truck between Baltimore and Huntington, W.Va., before starting his own business.
He had re-entered this country through Ellis Island, and his name was included in a register of immigrants at the Statue of Liberty when it was restored.
He is survived by his wife, the former Mary Tamburo, whom he married in 1935; a son, Neal V. Fertitta of Arnold; and a sister, Angelina Sabatino of Timonium.
Charles H. Gordon
City chauffeur
Services for Charles H. Gordon, who drove mayors and other city officials in 35 years as a Baltimore municipal employee, will be held at 10 a.m. today at the John C. Miller Funeral Home, 6415 Belair Road.
Mr. Gordon, who was 71 and lived in Northeast Baltimore, died Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital after a heart attack.
He retired in 1974 after driving for Gov. William Donald Schaefer when he was City Council president and for former Gov. Theodore R. McKeldin when he was mayor. He also drove Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr. and Thomas J. D'Alesandro III when they were mayors.
He also drove a tow truck and did other work at the repair garage on the Fallsway.
Born and reared in the old 10th Ward, where he attended St. John's School, he served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.
He is survived by his wife of 43 years, the former Maeanna E. Gray; a son, Charles G. Gordon of Baltimore; a daughter, Ann E. Gordon-Rahr of Baltimore; a brother, James E. Gordon of Berlin; and four grandchildren.
Maggie R. Hammed
Elkridge restaurateur
Services for Maggie Rose Hammed, a former owner of a restaurant in Elkridge, will be held at 11 a.m. todayat the Alpha Assembly of God Church, Ridge and Ridge Chapel roads in Hanover.
Mrs. Hammed, who was 91, died Wednesday at the home of a daughter in Westminster after a long illness.
She moved to Westminster in 1987, after living in Elkridge since she and her husband, Sam Hammed, opened the Elkridge Drive In Restaurant in 1956.
Mrs. Hammed retired from the restaurant business after her husband's death in 1967.
She was a founder of the Hanover Assembly of God Church, now the Alpha Assembly of God Church.
She was born Maggie Rose Duncan in Virginia and married Mr Hammed in 1919 shortly after he came to this country from Beirut, Lebanon.
Before moving to Elkridge, the couple operated the Four Way Restaurant in Tazewell, Va.
Mrs. Hammed is survived by four daughters, Margaret McNicholas and Ethel Blaney, both of Westminster, Mildred Whaley of Knoxville, Tenn., and Athba Becker of Welch, W.Va.; a son, Sam Hammed Jr. of Westminster; a sister, Lucille Tisdale of Westminster; a brother, Baxter Duncan of
Bluefield, W.Va.; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a great-great-granddaughter.
Ross Diffenderffer
Ran real estate firm
A memorial service for Ross B. Diffenderffer, whose long career in real estate ended when he pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling from Baltimore County programs he administered, will be held at 10 a.m. today at Trinity Episcopal Church, 120 Allegheny Ave. in Towson.
Mr. Diffenderffer, who was 67 and lived in Towson, died Thursday at St. Joseph Hospital after a long illness.
In 1982 he pleaded guilty and served two years for embezzling $187,723 from subsidized housing programs he had administered for nine years.
From the early 1950s until 1982, he operated Ross BDiffenderffer and Co. in Towson and earlier worked for real estate firms owned by his father and uncle.
A former president of the Maryland Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers, he had appraised much of the land bought for the Baltimore Beltway and the John F. Kennedy Highway.
In the 1960s, he was a member of the Maryland Real Estate Commission and, in the 1970s, he was a member of the state Transportation Authority, which had power over toll bridges, roads and tunnels.
FTC Mr. Diffenderffer had been treasurer of the 1970 re-election campaign of Dale Anderson, then the Baltimore County executive.
Born in Baltimore, Mr. Diffenderffer was a 1941 graduate of the McDonogh School and served in the Army during World War II.
He is survived by two daughters, Susan Lee Diffenderffer of Baltimore, and Sarah Elizabeth Adams of Towson; two sons, Ross B. Diffenderffer Jr. of Ruxton and Michael Claude Diffenderffer of Riderwood.
The family suggested memorial contributions to the McDonogh School.
Services for Florence J. Voelkel, who was active in church and fraternal groups, will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road.
Mrs. Voelkel, 90, died Wednesday, after several strokes, at Pickersgill. She had lived there more than five years.
A former matron and the last charter member of the Gleaner Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, she taught Sunday school at Arlington Presbyterian Church and later was a member of the Central Presbyterian Church.
She was born Florence J. Bennett in Baltimore and did clerical work for the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. as a young woman.
Her husband, John W. Voelkel, a retired locomotive engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, died in 1971.
Mrs. Voelkel is survived by a son, John Charles Voelkel of Parkville; a daughter, Mary Barbara Perkins of Clemmons, N.C.; and seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
A grandson, the Rev. Robert C. Perkins of St. Louis, will conduct the service.