Irene H. Siebens, nurse and teacher, dies at 97
A memorial service for Irene Henrietta Siebens, who was a nurse and teacher, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Roland Park Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Siebens, who was 97, died April 11 after an illness of several months at the home of a son on West 40th Street where she lived for 20 years.
The former Irene Henrietta Westphal was a native of Vauvert on the French Riviera.
Reared and educated in London, Hamburg and Lausanne, Switzerland, she studied opera and spoke several languages, including Italian. She was a volunteer nurse in U.S. Army hospitals in France early in World War I.
In 1917, she married Arthur R. Siebens, a YMCA secretary who was working with prisoners of war, first in Germany and then in France, after the United States entered the war.
They lived in Denmark and Romania before his YMCA work brought them to this country in the early 1920s and they lived in Atlanta and then in Chicago while he studied for the ministry at the McCormick Theological Seminary. After completing his doctoral studies at the Sorbonne, he became pastor of a church in Bowling Green, Ohio, in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
While living in Bowling Green, Mrs. Siebens served as director of the French House at Oberlin College. After the family moved to Toledo where her husband was secretary to the council of churches and later welfare director, she taught French at the University of Toledo.
After World War II, she moved to West Berlin, where her husband served as pastor of the American Community Church until his death 20 years ago.
She is survived by two sons, Dr. Arthur A. Siebens of Baltimore, and Roland H. Siebens of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; 17 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian burial for Karl J. Hellmann, a retired radar equipment manufacturing manager for the Westinghouse Electric Corp., will be offered at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Roman Catholic Church of the Crucifixion, 100 Scott Ave., Marley Park.
Mr. Hellmann, who was 70 and lived on Wrenway in Marley Park, died Tuesday at North Arundel Hospital after a heart attack.
He retired in 1984 from the Westinghouse plant at Baltimore-Washington International Airport where he had worked since 1954.
He worked for Westinghouse for 38 years, beginning as an apprentice machinist in Pittsburgh after graduating from high school in Irwin, Pa., where he was born.
He served in the infantry with the 3rd Army in Europe during World War II and was a prisoner of war for about four months after being captured at the Battle of the Bulge.
He is survived by his wife, the former Madeline H. McClain; a son, William K. Hellmann of Severna Park, who was state secretary of transportation from 1984 until 1987; four daughters, Margaret J. McBee of Severna Park, Susanne M. Haslup of Arnold and Kathleen J. Hemmings and Patricia L. Bartlett, both of Pasadena; his mother, Margaret J. McCullough of Marley Park; and 14 grandchildren.
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Kirby C. Browne
Bricklayer
A Mass of Christian burial for Kirby C. Browne, a bricklayer, will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday at All Saints Roman Catholic Church, 4408 Liberty Heights Ave.
Mr. Browne, who was 28 and lived on Chelsea Terrace, died Sunday at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center at University Hospital after a stroke.
He worked as a bricklayer through the hiring hall of Local 4 of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen in New York City for about five years.
Earlier, he worked in Baltimore for the Hilgartner Natural Stone Co.
The Baltimore native was educated at St. Alphonsus School, the Roland Park Middle School and City College.
He is survived by a daughter, Courtne Browne of New York City; his mother, Irma Browne of Baltimore; a brother, Stephen H. Browne of Baltimore; and two sisters, Lisa E. Browne and Suzette H. C. Browne, both of Baltimore.
Robert W. Downes
Shore businessman
Services for Robert W. Downes, a manufacturer's representative, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Christ Episcopal Church in Easton.
Mr. Downes, who was 45, died of cancer Monday at his home in Oxford.
He was president of Robson Downes Associates, a company that he and Robert K. Robson started in 1971 and that sold waterproofingmaterials and structural parts for bridges.
Born in Baltimore, he was a graduate of Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., and of Strayer College in Washington.
Before starting the business, Mr. Downes served in the U.S. Navy for four years.
Fond of sailing and waterfowl hunting, he was a member of the Talbot Rod and Gun Club, the Tred Avon Yacht Club and the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club.
He is survived by his wife of 17 years, the former Harriett McCabe; a daughter, Allison W. Downes of Oxford; a son, Robert W. Downes IV of Oxford; his mother, Charlotte Golden Todd of Oxford; and his father, Robert W. Downes Jr. of Melbourne, Fla.
The family suggested memorial contributions to the Talbot Hospice Foundation or to the Tred Avon Yacht Club.
Frances A. Baker
Teacher
A Mass of Christian burial for Frances A. Baker, a tutor and retired teacher, will be offered at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. John the Evangelist Church, 13305 Long Green Pike, Hydes.
Mrs. Baker, who was 72 and lived on Dance Mill Road in Phoenix, died Tuesday at St. Joseph Hospital after a stroke.
She retired in 1975 after teaching at St. John the Evangelist School since 1971. She earlier taught at St. Ursula's School for 11 years.
After her retirement, Mrs. Baker, who most often had taught the fourth grade, tutored children from the Phoenix area.
Born in Baltimore, the former Frances A. McCarthy was a graduate of St. Dominic's School and of Seton High School.
During the late 1930s, she worked in the office of the Bendix Radio Division.
Her husband of 51 years, Jack L. Baker is a retired traffic manager for the Bendix Radio Division.
In addition to her husband, her survivors include two daughters, Carol Ann Bickel of Monkton, and Regina Baker-Priebe of Norrisville; a son, James Robert Baker of Fallston; and nine grandchildren.
Kevin J. Sturm
Worked for labor board
A requiem Mass for Kevin J. Sturm, a native of Baltimore who worked for the National Labor Relations Board, will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday at Ascension and St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Washington.
Mr. Sturm, who was 33 and lived in Washington, died April 20 at a hospice there after a long illness.
He was an examiner and investigator for the NLRB from 1978 until he went on sick leave last August. He started in Baltimore, but was transferred to Washington in 1988.
He was reared in Pasadena and graduated from Northeast Senior High School. In 1980, he graduated with honors from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
He is survived by his mother and stepfather, Naomi and Edward Bridges of Martinsburg, W.Va.; his father, Oscar E. Sturm of Baltimore; a brother, Bruce H. Sturm of Pasadena; a sister, Deborah L. Sturm of Pasadena; a nephew and a niece.