Ambrose D. Cross, Howard bailiff, dies at 80
Ambrose D. Cross, a Howard County Circuit Court bailiff who had been the oldest Howard County employee, died Friday at his Ellicott City home of heart failure. He was 80.
A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Ellicott City.
A lifelong resident of Ellicott City, Mr. Cross attended a two-room school in the old mill town and county seat.
He went to work at the age of 12 as a butler for an Ellicott City family. Mr. Cross later became a postal employee, working 43 years until 1975 at the Main Street post office in Ellicott City, as a maintenance man and substitute letter carrier.
During World War II, he served as a sergeant in the Army quartermaster corps and saw combat during the Battle of the Bulge. He was a driver with the Red Ball express that equipped Gen. George Patton's tanks with ammunition and fuel.
After he retired from the post office, he was appointed a deputy sheriff in Howard County and held that post until he was named bailiff in 1976, a post he held up to his death.
"I first knew Ambrose when he worked at the post office in Ellicott City, and what impressed me was how considerate he was," said retired Howard County Circuit Judge James Macgill. "I tapped him to be bailiff because he was a person who had nice manners and was so thoughtful to people, which is a particularly welcome trait in public employees."
Mr. Cross, who had a sense of humor, once used the phrase "here comes the judge" in a takeoff on a comedy routine when Judge Macgill approached the bench. The bailiff, however, returned to the standard courtroom presentation after the judge talked to him about it.
A member of St. Paul's Catholic Church, Mr. Cross went to Mass every morning until he suffered from a heart ailment last month. His family remembers him as a patient grandfather who would sit for hours and sing to his grandchildren. He would tell them nursery stories, adding his own humorous touches to spice up the tales.
Surviving are his wife, Gladys Cross, of Ellicott City; five daughters, Shirley M. Greene of Columbia, Gloria Cross Hollis of Catonsville, Patricia D. Cook of Catonsville, Teressa Cross of Ellicott City and Mona Lisa Cosgrove of Alexandria, Va.; a sister, Montray Rochon of Seat Pleasant; 10 grandchildren; and six greatgrandchildren.
Janella S. Cohen
Treated alcoholics
Services for Janella Stewart Cohen, who was a founder of Hidden Brook, one of the earliest treatment centers for alcoholism, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Sol Levinson & Bros. Inc., 6010 Reisterstown Road.
Mrs. Cohen, who was 69 and lived on Velvet Valley Way in Owings Mills, died Sunday of cancer at the Johns Hopkins
In 1968, after she saw the need for a hospital or center that would treat the disease of alcoholism, she and four others started the center in a stone farmhouse with a columned porch in Bel Air with beds for nine patients, staffed largely by recovering alcoholics.
Licensed by the state in 1971, the institution got a contract with Blue Cross in 1974 and, by 1979, treated patients sent there by a list of more than eight major companies.
By 1985, when it was sold and became part of a group of hospitals known as New Beginnings, it had grown to more than 200 beds in centers that included an institution in Pennsylvania and two on the Eastern Shore, one of them for adolescents.
The former Janella Stewart was a native of Farmville, La., and a graduate of Louisiana Tech University. She came to Baltimore after her marriage 46 years ago to Irving Cohen.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Darlene Cohen of Baltimore; and several nieces and nephews.
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Edward A. Jones
Navy captain, doctor
Services for Edward Atwell Jones, a Baltimore native and retired Navy physician and captain, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the chapel at Fort Myer, Va.
Dr. Jones, who was 74, died of cardiorespiratory arrest Thursday at Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va.
The general practitioner had been in private practice in McLean, Va., from 1974 -- when he retired from the Navy as assistant chief of aerospace medicine -- to 1986.
He served in the Navy during World War II, taking part in the Normandy invasion. His Navy career spanned 35 years, including service in Japan; in Korea during the Korean War; in Rota, Spain, as chief medical officer of the U.S. Naval Air Station; and aboard the aircraft carrier Midway.
As a flight surgeon, he treated Navy pilots and later helped evaluate Vietnam War veterans.
Dr. Jones belonged to Christ Church Episcopal in Alexandria, Va., and to the Masons, the Shriners and the Civitan Club in McLean, Va., where he had lived since 1971.
He was born in Baltimore, son of Lilla Brown and Joseph Edward Jones of Lothian.
Dr. Jones received his medical degree from Northwestern University in Chicago and attended the University of Louisville as an undergraduate.
He is survived by his wife, Charlene W. Jones of McLean, Va.; two daughters, Nancy J. Goetschius of Severna Park, and Charlene J. Willess of Oakton, Va.; and four grandsons.
William A. Johnson
Electronics buyer
Services for William Ardie Johnson, a retired buyer for an electronics firm in Florida and a former resident of Catonsville, will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Lewis W. Mohn Funeral Home in Seminole, Fla.
Mr. Johnson, who was 85, died Friday of cancer at a nursing home in Seminole.
He moved to Florida in 1958 and worked for an electronics firm in St. Petersburg until his retirement in the mid-1960s.
The Baltimore native had worked as an automobile salesman and in the electronics industry before moving to Florida.
A former master of the Palestine Lodge of the Masons in Catonsville, he was a member of the York Rite and of Egypt Temple in Florida.
His wife, Alma Johnson, died in 1988. He is survived by two brothers, Roland A. Johnson of Ellicott City and Thomas W. Johnson of the state of Texas.
Shelton A. Murray
Oil worker, guitarist
Shelton A. Murray, a retired oil company worker, died Wednesday of heart failure at his home in the Southgate Apartments in Glen Burnie.
Mr. Murray, who was 65, retired in 1980 from the American Oil Co. terminal in Curtis Bay, where he had worked for more than 30 years.
A native of Severn and a graduate of City College, he served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II.
In the late 1940s, Mr. Murray, who played the guitar, had his own country music band, the Mountain Road Boys, and headed another that appeared on the television program "The Collegians."
He is survived by a daughter, Sheila Ann Robbins of Greensboro; three brothers, James F. Murray of Severn and Dennis W. and Robert O. Murray, both of Baltimore; a sister, Betty Lou Murray of Baltimore; and a grandson.
Services were held yesterday at the Gonce Funeral Home.
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Rosie Lee James
Retired nurse
Services for Rosie Lee James, a retired practical nurse at Jenkins Memorial Home, will be held at 6 p.m. today at the Providence Baptist Church, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave.
Mrs. James, who was 61 and lived on North Gilmor Street, died Thursday at the Baltimore County General Hospital after a heart attack.
She retired nearly 15 years ago after working at Jenkins for nearly 25 years.
The former Rosie Lee Kahan was a native of Anniston, Ala.
In addition to her work, she cared for foster children in her home and was an usher and a member of the nurses and auxiliary boards and other groups at the Providence Baptist Church.
Her husband, Herman James, is a retired machinist at the Crown Cork and Seal Co.
In addition to her husband, survivors include two sisters, Ernestine Westbrook of Baltimore and Lucie Nixon of Cleveland; and three brothers, Moses Reed and Arthur Bowie, both of Anniston, and Jessie James Bowie of Anniston.
Joseph J. Brill Sr.
Seafood dealer
A Mass of Christian burial for Joseph J. Brill Sr., a retired wholesale seafood dealer, will be offered at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, 4414 Frankford Ave.
Mr. Brill, who was 68 and lived on Hillburn Avenue, died of multiple myeloma Sunday at Good Samaritan Hospital.
He retired in 1988 as owner of Brill's Crescent Seafood Co., which he had started in the late 1940s. He was a member of the Food Service Executives Association.
During World War II, the Baltimore native served in Navy gun crews aboard merchant ships.
He had a summer home on Seneca Creek in Bowleys Quarters, where he gave Fourth of July parties for relatives and friends.
Mr. Brill is survived by his wife, the former Maria Cascio; a son, Joseph J. Brill Jr. of Bowleys Quarters; a daughter, Kathleen E. Stewart of Baltimore; a brother, Raymond Brill of Havre de Grace; and three grandchildren.
The family suggested that memorial contributions could be made to the Kidney Foundation.
Marjorie L. Reed
Retired teacher
Former schoolteacher Marjorie Lewis Reed of Lutherville died Nov. 25 of a stroke. She was 90.
Born and reared in Schenectady, N.Y., she taught public school there until her marriage in 1931 to John Walter Reed, who died in 1957.
She was a lifelong member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in New York and Maryland. She moved to Maryland about 10 years ago.
Mrs. Reed is survived by a daughter, Barbara Merrill of Baltimore; a sister, Nell Dalton of Schenectady; a brother, Walter Lewis of Schenectady; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
Services for Mrs. Reed were held Nov. 29 in Fayetteville, N.Y.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Bea Gaddy, 140 N. Collington Ave., Baltimore 21231; Viva House, 26 S. Mount St., Baltimore 21223; or Maryland Food Committee, 204 E. 25th St., Baltimore 21218.