Maurice Shochatt, editor, publisher, dies at 80
Services for Maurice R. Shochatt, who had been a newspaper editor and publisher, columnist and public relations man, will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Sol Levinson & Bros. funeral establishment, 6010 Reisterstown Road.
Mr. Shochatt, who was 80 and maintained his home and office on Reisterstown Road until six months ago, died early yesterday of complications to diabetes at Levindale.
Until he closed the office, he had been for many years editor and publisher of the Baltimore Beacon, a weekly and later a monthly that specialized in coverage of Northwest Baltimore, and for 20 years that spanned parts of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, he wrote a column for the Jewish Times.
Editor for many years of the Menorah Light, the award-winning newsletter of the Menorah Lodge of B'nai B'rith, he also produced a weekly news program on WITH-AM in the 1940s and 1950s.
He told friends his professional slogan was, "Journalism should light the way, not burn the way."
As a public relations man, he served as an officer or executive secretary of several groups he helped to start, including the Safety First Club of Maryland, which he served as executive vice president, the Sports Boosters of Maryland and the Metropolitan Civic Club.
A native of Ukraine who came to Baltimore as a child with his family, he was a 1929 graduate of City College and also attended the Baltimore Hebrew College and the University of Maryland. He later served as secretary of the City College class of 1929.
He worked for a time for a predecessor of the News American and later often wrote letters to newspaper editors, often dealing with traffic safety or other matters of interest to groups he represented.
Mr. Shochatt is survived by a sister, Manya Shapiro of Takoma, Wash.; and several nieces and nephews.
The family suggested memorial contributions could be made to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Maryland through Steve Harris at 100 Water St.
Richard Wernecke
Flight test engineer
Richard Louis Wernecke, a retired flight test engineer at the Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center in Lexington Park, died of cancer Nov. 25 at his Leonardtown home. He was 58.
A native of Dundalk, Mr. Wernecke grew up there in the 1940's as his father, Ray, coached a string of undefeated football teams at the Dundalk Athletic Club. Mr. Wernecke became a standout football lineman, playing offensive guard for Poly until he graduated in 1951.
He earned an engineering degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1954, after only three years there on a senatorial scholarship, and went to work at the Naval Air Test Center.
After a year at the St. Mary's County base, he enlisted in the Army and served in Japan as an intelligence officer. He returned to Patuxent River in 1959 and married the former Margaret Richardson.
Throughout his 34-year career at Patuxent River, Mr. Wernecke was involved in the testing and evaluation of more than 60 naval aircraft, specializing in helicopters.
For 13 years before his retirement in 1988, Mr. Wernecke was technical director of the test center's Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate. In 1977 he was named a distinguished fellow of the American Helicopter Society. Upon retirement, the Navy honored him with its Superior Civilian Service Award.
Since 1988, the Naval Air Test Center has bestowed the Richard L. "Dick" Wernecke Award on its rotary wing engineer of the year.
He was an avid golfer and longtime president of the congregation at Trinity Lutheran Church.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Ray Wernecke of Leonardtown and David Wernecke of Lusby, and two grandchildren.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church Building Fund, Shangri-La Drive, Lexington Park, Md. 20653.
Maria Lynn Rodrigue
Lifelong city resident
Maria Lynn Rodrigue, a lifelong resident of Baltimore, died Nov. 7 of leukemia at Harbor Hospital Center. She was 18.
Ms. Rodrigue, who lived with her family in Southwest Baltimore, attended elementary and middle school in the Baltimore school system. She attended one year at Howard High School in Columbia before her illness forced her to leave the school and continue her education at home with tutors.
She was fond of camping.
Ms. Rodrigue's funeral was held Nov. 11 at the Hubbard Funeral Home.
She is survived by a daughter, Tiffany Lynn Rodrigue; her mother, Sandra Lynn Collett; her father, Lawrence Rodrigue Sr.; her stepfather, Timothy Collett; two brothers, Lawrence Rodrigue Jr. and Clifford Rodrigue. All of her survivors are from Baltimore.
Andrew J. Johnson
Prince George's infant
A memorial service for Andrew Jarosinski Johnson, a premature baby who died hours after his birth, was held Dec. 6 at Prince George's Hospital Center.
Andrew was born at the hospital a day earlier as his mother, Anne Johnson, was beginning her fifth month of pregnancy. He arrived at 3:35 p.m. and died at 7:10 p.m.
The infant was baptized before his death.
In addition to his mother and his father, G. Jeffrey Johnson of Bowie, Andrew is survived by a sister, 5-year-old Adrienne; a brother, David, 2; and two sets of grandparents, Simon P. and Marguerite Jarosinski of Timonium and David and Nancy Ballard of Derwood.
Douglass Camper Sr.
Dentist, schoolteacher
Services for Douglass J. Camper Sr., a dentist who later served as a schoolteacher and college official, will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Garrison Boulevard United Methodist Church, 2506 Garrison Blvd.
Dr. Camper, who was 96 and lived on Powhatan Avenue, died Saturday at the Liberty Medical Center of complications to a prostate gland condition.
He retired in the mid-1960s as a science and geography teacher at the Booker T. Washington Junior High School.
He began his teaching career in Baltimore in 1932, after practicing as a dentist in Philadelphia.
After his retirement, he served for a short time as assistant dean of men at what is now Morgan State University.
Born in Baltimore, he was a 1914 graduate of Douglass High School and a 1918 graduate of Morgan, where he played on its first football team, coached by his brother, Dr. John E. T. Camper.
After his graduation, he enrolled in the dental school at Howard University, where he became a member of the student Army Corps and was called to active duty.
After World War I, he completed dental school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia before starting his own practice.
His wife of 52 years, the former I. Naomi Daugherty, died in 1977.
He had helped her with projects in the FOR-WIN-ASH Garden Club and was a member himself of the Herbert Frisby Historical Society, the Northwest Community Council, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and several pinochle and bridge clubs.
He is survived by a son, Douglass J. Camper Jr. of Baltimore; a daughter, Cynthia C. Harvey of Baltimore; a foster daughter, Gloria Queen Bruce of New York City; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
The family suggested that memorial contributions could be made to the Harvey/Camper Computer Society Foundation at Morgan State University.
A memorial service for William F. Ward, founder of the Ward Machinery Co., will be held at 9 a.m. today at the Lemmon-Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, 10 W. Padonia Road, Timonium.
Mr. Ward, who was 73, died Monday of heart failure at his home in Hampstead.
He retired in 1985 as chairman of the board of the Cockeysville company he started in 1962 that manufactures machinery for making paper boxes. Mr. Ward held more than a dozen patents.
The Eastern Shore native earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, and early in his career worked for the Koppers Co.
During World War II, he was a major in the Army Corps of Engineers.
His wife, the former Virginia Pendleton Williams, died in 1988.
He is survived by a son, William F. Ward Jr. of Hampstead; a daughter, Virginia P. Jenkin of Mineral, Va.; a brother, John P. Ward of Scottsdale, Ariz.; and six grandchildren.
Herbert S. Burns Jr.
Retired meat buyer
Services for Herbert S. Burns Jr., retired head meat buyer for supermarkets in Maryland and nearby states, will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Barranco & Sons Funeral Home, Ritchie Highway and Robinson Road in Severna Park.
Mr. Burns, who was 61 and lived in Severna Park since 1969, died Tuesday of cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
In 1948, he began working for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., which now operates area Super Fresh stores, as a butcher in Aberdeen, where he was born and lived until moving to Severna Park.
He retired in 1979 as head meat buyer in the area.
A member of the Pasadena United Methodist Church, he had also been an adult leader in Linthicum-Ferndale and Aberdeen youth baseball programs.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
Mr. Burns is survived by his wife of 37 years, the former Nancy C. Mallinson; two sons, William Scott Burns of Severna Park and Daniel K. Burns of Arnold; four sisters, Lois Barnhart of Havre de Grace, Pauline Halbrook of Penny Farm, Fla., Doris Woodworth of Homestead, Fla., and Joan Burns of Linthicum; a brother, Thomas Burns of Aberdeen; and three grandchildren.
Charles L. Smethers
District sales manager
Services for Charles L. Smethers, Baltimore district sales manager for the Schmidt Baking Co., will be held at 11 a.m. today at the John C. Miller Funeral Home, 6415 Belair Road.
Mr. Smethers, who was 59, died Sunday after a heart attack at his home in Joppatowne.
He had worked for the bakery for 27 years, starting as a driver-salesman, and had held the managerial post for 12 years.
Mr. Smethers was a member of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic Food Dealers Association, the Food Executives of Maryland and the Grocery Manufacturers Representatives of Baltimore.
Earlier, he had worked for the Capitol Bakery and at the Glenn L. Martin Co., which is now Martin Marietta Corp..
During the Korean War, he served in the Army Chemical Corps, reaching the rank of staff sergeant and winning medals that included a unit commendation. During his Army years, the Weatherford, Texas, native came to the Baltimore area.
He was a member of the Charles Evering Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Mr. Smethers is survived by his wife, the former Jeannine S. Helton; a son, Robert Smethers of Detroit; a daughter, Joanne Decker of Ellicott City; two stepdaughters, Lynda Folck of Whiteford and Cindy Croft of Fullerton; four brothers, Jack, Tommy, Kenneth and Joe Wayne Smethers, all still of Texas; three sisters, Pauline Davis, Wanda Taylor and Billie Alvey, all also of Texas; and eight grandchildren.