F. Elliott Burch Sr.
St. Mary's Democrat
F. Elliott Burch Sr., chairman of the board of a family petroleum company and a former chairman of the St. Mary's County Commissioners, died Saturday at St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown after a heart attack.
A Mass of Christian burial for Mr. Burch, who was 83 and lived in Hollywood, was to be offered at 10 a.m. today at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Mechanicsville.
A Democrat, he served as president of the Board of County Commissioners from 1962 until 1970 and was also a member of the county's Economic Development Commission and of the Tri-County Council, a similar development group for the Southern Maryland counties of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's. He was also a former member of the St. Mary's County Airport Commission.
Born in Mechanicsville, he was a 1925 graduate of the Charlotte Hall Military Academy. He worked for the Meredith Lumber Co. before joining his father just after he started the Burch Oil Co. in 1928.
The company distributes petroleum products, including heating oil and automotive fuels, and owns gasoline stations and associated Burch Mart convenience stores.
At Immaculate Conception Church, he was a member of the building committee and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He was a member of the cemetery committee at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Morganza.
He also served on the boards of the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department, the Charlotte Hall Military Academy and the Cedar Lane Home for the Elderly, where he headed the board and served on the building committee.
In 1932, he married Elizabeth V. Buckler, who died in 1976.
He is survived by his wife of nearly nine years, the former Marie Banks Raley; two sons, F. Elliott Burch Jr. of Mechanicsville and Donald B. Burch of Charlotte Hall; a stepson, Garry Raley of Callaway; a stepdaughter, Sandra Raley of Hollywood; two sisters, Margaret Stephens and Louise Kronlund, both of Mechanicsville; a brother, Samuel B. Burch Jr. of Mechanicsville; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
The family suggested memorial contributions to Immaculate Conception Church.
S. Vannort Chapman
Baltimore lawyer
Samuel Vannort "Norty" Chapman, a retired attorney and former secretary of the Maryland State Bar Association, died Friday of heart failure at a veterans hospital in Washington.
Services for Mr. Chapman, 86, were to be conducted at 10 a.m. today at Grace United Methodist Church, 5407 N. Charles St., Baltimore. He maintained an independent private law practice for many years before his retirement nearly 15 years ago, and served in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as secretary of the state bar association.
He was a founder and former commodore of the Potapskut Sailing Association and a member of other sailing groups including the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association. He was secretary of the Maryland Historical Society from 1970 to 1976 and a member of the Maritime Committee from its inception.
Mr. Chapman served as secretary of the pension fund of the Baltimore Conference the United Methodist Church from 1949 to 1983. He also was a former president of the Society of the War of 1812 in Maryland and of the Ancient and Honorable Mechanical Company.
During World War II, he served in the Coast Guard and was for a time captain of the port of Miami.
The Baltimore native was a graduate of the Gilman School, the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland law school.
Mr. Chapman is survived by his wife of 50 years, the former Elizabeth Earle of Baltimore; a daughter, Clare Chapman Schmidt of Baltimore; and two grandchildren.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Visiting Nurses Association Hospice through the Scott Geffen Fund, 6000 Metro Drive, Baltimore 21215, or to the Maritime Committee of the Maryland Historical Society.
Kenneth R. Lee
SSA branch chief
Kenneth R. Lee, a retired branch chief in the Division of Health Insurance Systems in the Social Security Administration, died Sunday of cancer at his home on Airway Circle in Towson.
Services for Mr. Lee, who was 79, were to be conducted at 11 a.m. today at the Mitchell-Wiedefeld Home, 6500 York Road.
Mr. Lee retired in 1971. He started working at Social Security in 1936, shortly after it was established.
A computer systems analyst, he was sent to Mexico in 1963 to help set up its social security system.
Born in Hartsburg, Ill., he was educated there, in Peoria, Ill., and in Bloomington, Ill., where he graduated from high school and from the nearby Illinois Normal School. He also attended the Coyne Electric School in Chicago.
Mr. Lee served in the Navy during World War II.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, the former Betty Jane Hampson; three daughters, Sandra J. Hertel Serck of Bloomington, Bonnie Lee White of Harrisburg, Pa., and Gail Kershaw of Brockport, N.Y.; a son, Brian R. Lee of Blackfoot, Idaho; a brother, Robert M. Lee of Wichita, Kan.; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Sister Francis Kelley
Retired teacher
Sister Francis Kelley, D.C., who taught in Baltimore area elementary schools for many years, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Villa St. Michael, the retirement home of the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg. She was 90.
A Mass of Christian burial for Sister Francis was to be offered at 1:30 p.m. today at the basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg.
She retired in 1983 from teaching at St. Michael's in Overlea, where she had been stationed since 1968.
Earlier, her Baltimore area assignments included St. Charles Borromeo in Pikesville, from 1957 until 1966, and St. Martin's, from 1931 until 1948.
Many people knew her from her hobby of making Raggedy Anne vTC and Andy dolls that were often sold at fund-raising events.
She had also taught in Boston, and in Endicott and Utica in New York.
The former Frances Helen Kelley was a native of Cumberland who entered the Daughters of Charity in 1928.
Sister Francis was a graduate of St. Joseph's College in Emmitsburg and did graduate work at Villanova University.
She is survived by several nieces and nephews.
James R. Thomas
Hospital fire chief
James R. Thomas, retired head of the fire department at the Perry Point Veterans' Hospital and a former American Legion Department Commander for the State of Maryland, died Sunday of heart disease at the Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace.
Services for the 65-year-old Perryville resident were to be conducted at 2 p.m. today at the Patterson Funeral Home in Perryville.
He retired in 1982 as head of protective services at the medical center, where he had worked for 30 years. After his retirement, he served for several years as chief deputy in the Cecil County Sheriff's Department and more recently as a bus dispatcher for the county's Department of Aging.
He also had been a life member of the Community Fire Company in Perryville and a former president of the Harford and Cecil Counties Firemen's Association. In addition to heading the state organization of the American Legion, he had served as commander of the Susquehanna Post of which he was a life member. He also belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in North East.
The Perryville native served in the Army in World War II and the Korean War. Mr. Thomas was a member of the Perryville United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, the former Doris M. Ellis; a daughter, Dolores Thomas Cavanaugh of Pottstown, Pa.; two brothers, John C. and Robert F. Thomas of Perryville; a sister, Ruth A. Trego of Perryville; and a grandson.
Ida M. D'Ambrosio
Dundalk resident
Ida M. D'Ambrosio, who was known for the stories she told of her youth in Italy and of her early days in Dundalk, died Saturday of heart failure at her home on Detroit Avenue in Dundalk.
A Mass of Christian burial for Mrs. D'Ambrosio, who was 96, was to be offered at 10 a.m. today at St. Rita's Roman Catholic Church, Dunglow Road and Dunmanway in Dundalk.
The former Ida Minutelli was born in Italy and came to this country as a young woman, settling briefly in Clarksburg, W.Va., before moving to Dundalk.
Her husband, Titomanlio D'Ambrosio, opened a shoemaker's shop in St. Helena after they settled in the Dundalk area.
A daughter said that until her death Mrs. D'Ambrosio remained alert and able to tell stories both of Italy and of Dundalk before World War II.
She is survived by three daughters, Gilda Grande of Rosedale, Helen Aiken of Dundalk and Gloria Masters of Joppa; 14 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-granddaughter.
Frank C. Graham Jr.
Mechanical engineer
Frank C. Graham Jr., a mechanical engineer for military contractors, died Sunday at Carroll County General Hospital in Westminster after a heart attack. He was 63.
Services for Mr. Graham, who lived in Eldersburg, are to be conducted at 10 a.m. today at the Haight Funeral Home in Eldersburg.
Known as Buck, he worked for Pats Inc. Earlier, he had worked for the TVI Corp. and for many years for Flight Refueling Inc.
A native of Baltimore, he was a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute and the Johns Hopkins University. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War.
He is survived by his wife, the former Madlyn Joan Hardesty; two daughters, Dale Joan Morton of Columbia and Madlyn Margaret Haas of Westminster; two sons, Alan J. Graham of Eldersburg and Frank C. Graham III of Westminster; a brother, Edward Graham of Towson; and seven grandchildren.
Lucyll E. Stauffer
Former Towson resident
Lucyll E. Stauffer, a former resident of Towson, died Saturday of a circulatory illness at the Memorial Hospital in Easton.
Services for Mrs. Stauffer, who was 77 and lived with her son in Federalsburg, were to be conducted at 10 a.m. today at the Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road.
She had lived in Towson from the 1960s until moving to the Eastern Shore nearly two years ago. She was a member of the Colonel John Street Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The former Lucyll Embry was a native of Louisville, Ky., who had lived in Lancaster, Pa., before moving to this area. Her husband, Earl Christian Stauffer, died in 1954.
She is survived by her son, Earl Stauffer of Federalsburg; a sister, Eugenna Kulacki of Perry Hall; and three grandchildren.
Lillian C. Williss
Baltimore native, 100
Lillian C. Williss, a native of Baltimore, died Friday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Jacksonville, Fla. She had turned 100 years old two days earlier.
Graveside services for Mrs. Williss, who moved to Jacksonville in 1974, were to be conducted at 9:30 a.m. today at Loudon Park Cemetery, 3801 Frederick Ave.
The former Lillian Cochran was a graduate of Western High School.
She was active in the Episcopal Church of St. Michael and All Angels before moving to Florida.
Her husband, John K. Williss, was secretary-treasurer of Black & Decker US Inc. and office manager of D. N. Owens Office Supply before his death in 1958.
She is survived by a son, John T. Williss of Jacksonville; and six grandchildren.
Carl E. Snyder Sr.
Westminster carpenter
Carl E. Snyder Sr., a carpenter from Westminster, died Nov. 13 at St. Joseph Hospital in Towson.
The 62-year-old Randallstown native was the son of the late Emory G. and Mary Margaret Wilt Snyder and the brother of the late Margaret Bussey and Frank Snyder.
Surviving are four daughters, Diane, Debbie and Donna Snyder and Denise Garland; a son, Carl E. "Eddie" Snyder Jr.; a devoted friend, Jerri McQuay; seven sisters, Elsie Cress, Bertha Griffith, Helen Heacock, Mary Ruth Anderson, Dorothy Burgess, Phyllis Lafferty and Olive McKinney; three brothers, Vernon, James and Elwood Snyder; and 10 grandchildren.
A funeral was conducted Nov. 17 in Randallstown, with burial in Emory Church Cemetery.