Michael Egan, poet and expert on Irish culture
A Mass of Christian burial for Michael Egan, a poet, teacher and expert on Irish culture and history, will be offered at 11 a.m. today at St. Joseph's Passionist Monastery Church, Old Frederick Road and Monastery Avenue.
Mr. Egan, who lived on Mallow Hill Road when he was not staying in Ireland, died Thursday of cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 52.
His poetry was published in three books, "The Oldest Gesture," "Letters to My Wife" and "We Came Out Again to See the Stars." He had completed a book-length epic poem, "Leviathan".
His works also appeared in such publications as the Journal of Irish Literature, Antaeus and the Maryland Poetry Review, of which he was a founder.
A former co-editor of the Hampden Sydney Poetry Review, he helped start the University of Maryland Baltimore County literary magazine Bartleby and was founder of a publishing house, New Poets Series Inc./Chestnut Hills Press.
He was poet in residence at UMBC from 1970 to 1977 and taught poetry and literature at the Howard and Dundalk community colleges and the Maryland Institute College of Art.
He started the Maryland Institute for Irish Studies in 1977 to provide courses in Irish history, culture, language and music for people of Irish descent especially.
The Baltimore native was a graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School and the University of Maryland at College Park. He held a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University, where he attended the writing seminars.
Mr. Egan is survived by two daughters, Moira P. Egan of New York City and Sionna E. Johnson of Baltimore; a son, Patrick M. Egan of Baltimore; his former wife, Betty Egan of Catonsville; his mother, Selma H. Egan of Baltimore; and three grandchildren.
G. Gunther Mercer
Point Breeze manager
Services for George Gunther Mercer, who had been a manager in the cable department of the Point Breeze Plant of the Western Electric Co., will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at the Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road.
Mr. Mercer, 89, died Wednesday at Edenwald of complications of Parkinson's disease.
He retired in 1962 after working for Western Electric since moving to Baltimore in 1926.
Born in Whitestone, Va., he was a 1925 graduate of the College of William and Mary and taught in Weems, Va., before moving to Baltimore.
A member of the Masonic Lodge in Kilmarnock, Va., for more than 60 years, he also belonged to the Maryland Historical Society, the Virginians of Maryland and the Telephone Pioneers of America.
He was a hunter and honorary member of the Wiltondale Gun Club.
After his retirement, he spent 15 years researching his family's genealogy. His book on the subject was published in the late 1970s.
He is survived by his wife, the former Lucille Mathews; three daughters, Emily Ulrich of Hampton and Mary Lu Holter and Marjorie Quigley, both of Stoneleigh; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Mildred Phelps
Volunteer
A Mass of Christian burial for Mildred Phelps, a Red Cross volunteer during World War II who was active in charitable work, will be offered at 10 a.m. today at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, 5200 N. Charles St.
Mrs. Phelps, who was 87, died of cancer Wednesday at her home in the Broadview Apartments.
She was a member of the Three Arts Club of Homeland, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Bridge Club at Keswick, which raised money for the nursing home on West 40th Street.
The former Mildred Hetzer was a native of Hagerstown and a graduate of Western Maryland College.
Her husband, Charles Van Sant Phelps, a manufacturer, died in 1979.
She is survived by a daughter, Ann White-Hopwood of Baltimore; two sisters, Mary Hutson and Beth Tenney, both of Hagerstown; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Dorothy E. Andrew
Telephone operator
Services for Dorothy E. Andrew, a native of Catonsville who lived in Federalsburg for 48 years, will be held at 4 p.m. today at the Frampton-Hawkins-Eskow Funeral Home in the Eastern Shore community.
Mrs. Andrew, who was 80, died Thursday at the Memorial Hospital in Easton of a heart ailment.
The former Dorothy E. Fischbach was a telephone operator in Catonsville before she married Virgil L. Andrew and moved to the Shore. Mr. Andrew is a retired farmer.
In addition to her husband, her survivors include a son, Richard L. Andrew of Federalsburg; four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
Edwin H. Oland
SSA administrator
Services for Edwin H. Oland, a combat veteran of World War II and a retired supervisor at the Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn, will be held at 11 a.m. today at St. James Lutheran Church, Rolling and Liberty roads.
Mr. Oland, a Randallstown resident, died Tuesday at the Baltimore County General Hospital after a blood vessel burst. He was 70.
Born in Beallsville, he was a graduate of Poolesville High School. He was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart after being shot while rescuing wounded members of his Army platoon in France during World War II.
He is survived by his wife, the former Frances Margaret Simmons; two daughters, Joyce C. Brooks of Sugarloaf, Pa., and Sharon Rose Dorsey of Baltimore; two sons, Master Sgt. T. J. Oland of Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and Michael C. Oland of Owings Mills; a brother, Thomas Oland of Ellicott City; three sisters, Charlotte Gilliam of Silver Spring, Annie Green of Union Bridge, and Jean Stuart of Greenbelt; and six grandchildren.
Richard F. Merrill
Mechanical engineer
A memorial service for Richard F. Merrill, a mechanical engineer for Westinghouse Electric Corp., will be held at 10 a.m. today at his home, 403 Gun Road in Relay.
Mr. Merrill, who was 57, died at home Monday of cancer.
He moved to the Baltimore area in 1959 shortly after starting with Westinghouse and worked on radar and similar programs at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport plant.
He was born and reared in St. Paul, Minn., and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a scholarship before receiving his mechanical engineering degree from the University Minnesota in 1957.
His enthusiasms included motorboating, photography and tinkering with many kinds of equipment.
He refinished antiques, did home improvements, and recently had been doing the woodwork for a Catonsville Garden Club restoration of a gazebo on Mount de Sales Academy's grounds.
He is survived by his wife of 31 years, the former Lucy White; two sons, Richard F. Merrill Jr. of Arbutus and Lt. j.g. Thomas I. Merrill, a pilot stationed at the Lemoore Naval Air Station in California; his mother, Myrtle G. Merrill, and a sister, Leda M. Keefe, both of Durham, N.H.
Lorenzo E. Sanders
Sun distributor
Services for Lorenzo E. Sanders, a home delivery distributor for The Baltimore Sun, will be held at 1 p.m. today at Christ Church, 3300 Glen Ave.
Mr. Sanders, who was 59 and a resident of Morely Street, died of cancer Monday at the Loch Raven Veterans Hospital.
A native of Ironton, Ohio, he moved to Baltimore after serving in the Army in the Korean War, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart and other decorations. He was a school police officer for many years.
He is survived by his wife, the former Norma J. Maxwell; a son, Lorenzo E. Sanders Jr. of Baltimore; three stepsons, Englon Roberts and Nicholas Maxwell, both of Baltimore, and Charles Bond of Florida; five stepdaughters, Patricia and Vanessa Bond, Kere and Georgette Roberts and Toya Maxwell, all of Baltimore; his mother, Mary Irving of Columbus, Ohio; a brother, Victor Irving of Baltimore; three sisters, Shirley Iverson of Detroit and Barbara Stewart and Tomasine Young, both of Columbus; and 11 grandchildren.