Thomas R. Knight Sr.
Railroad controller
Thomas R. Knight Sr., retired controller of the Western Maryland Railway, died Saturday at Sinai Hospital after a series of strokes.
He was 75 and lived in Cockeysville.
He retired in 1977 as controller of the Western Maryland and as assistant controller of its parent firm, the Chessie System. He began working for the railroad in 1938.
In 1963, he opened the Auto Wash Wax Center in Catonsville. He sold the business in 1987.
He was born in Carneys Point, N.J., but reared in Baltimore. He was a 1936 graduate of City College and worked at several clerical jobs before starting with the railroad.
During World War II, he was a communications officer in the Army Air Forces in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. He attained the rank of major.
He was a former commodore of the Yacht Club of South River, a former board member of the Turf Valley Country Club and a member of the Towson Lodge of the Elks.
Services for Mr. Knight were to be conducted at 2 p.m. today at the Lemmon-Mitchell-Wiedefeld Home, 10 W. Padonia Road in Cockeysville.
He is survived by his wife of 26 years, the former Betty J. Blankenship; two sons, Sean Knight of Cockeysville and Thomas R. Knight Jr. of Hobe Sound, Fla.; two daughters, Judith R. Kight of Glen Arm and Deborah H. Valencia of Baltimore; a sister, Betty K. Molesworth of Ruxton; and two grandchildren. Nancy C. Rottloff, who had worked in department stores and part time in real estate sales, died Sunday of cancer at her home in Towson. She was 60.
She retired last fall from the Hecht Co. store in Towson after working as a salesclerk there and at the Hutzler's store in Towson for a total of about 20 years.
She received a real estate sales license in 1989 and worked part time for Grempler Realty Inc.
Born in Baltimore, the former Nancy Connelly graduated from St. John's School and from Seton High School in 1950. She was a clerical worker for Baltimore City government as a young woman.
A Mass of Christian burial for Mrs. Rottloff was to be offered at 10:30 a.m. today at the Roman Catholic Church of the Nativity, 1800 Vista Lane in Timonium.
She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Norbert J. Rottloff Sr.; two sons, Norbert J. Rottloff Jr. of Plantation, Fla., and Paul M. Rottloff of Virginia Beach, Va.; two daughters, Rosemarie A. Rottloff of Baltimore and Jean Marie Sapp of Charlotte, N.C.; and three grandsons. Cordelia Smith Schwartz, a Baltimore native who had been active in church work, died Saturday of heart failure at the William Hill Manor retirement community in Easton.
She was 99 and had moved from Ten Hills to St. Michaels in 1985. Three years later, she moved to the retirement community.
The former Cordelia Smith was born in Baltimore and was a graduate of the Friends School.
At St. Mark's Lutheran Church, she served on the Church Council, sang in the choir and was a volunteer in other programs.
St. Mark's and several other major local buildings were built by the Henry Smith & Sons Construction Co., in which her father was a partner.
She also was active in the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons, serving as head of her chapter and of the Maryland branch. The interdenominational group operated a home for epileptics and the old Silver Cross Nursing Home.
Her first husband, Rudolph Gleichman, died in 1926. Her second husband, George H. Schwartz, died in 1968.
Services for Mrs. Schwartz were to be conducted at noon today at St. Mark's, St. Paul and 20th streets in Baltimore.
She is survived by a son, Rudolph Wheeler Gleichman of St. Michaels; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Regina S. Rooney
Springfield nurse
Regina S. Rooney, a nurse who retired at the beginning of the month from the Springfield Hospital Center, died Sunday of cancer at her home in Brookeville. She was 53.
When she retired from the state-run mental hospital in Sykesville, she was head of utilization review. She had worked there since 1984.
From the mid-1970s until she joined the staff at Springfield, she was a public health nurse in the Howard County Health Department. In the 1960s, she was a public health nurse in the Prince George's County Health Department.
The former Regina Stafford was a native of New York City and a graduate of the Georgetown University nursing school.
A Mass of Christian burial for Mrs. Rooney was to be offered at 10 a.m. today at St. Louis Roman Catholic Church in Clarksville.
She is survived by her husband, Francis P. Rooney Sr.; a daughter, Laura M. R. Johnson of Brookeville; a son, Francis Patrick Rooney Jr. of Dallas; and a sister, Joan Stafford of New York City.
George R. Chance
Automobile worker
George R. Chance, a retired automobile worker and a former merchant seaman, died Monday at Baltimore County General Hospital after a heart attack.
He was 82 and had moved nearly five years ago to Randallstown from Reisterstown, where he had lived for many years.
He retired nearly 20 years ago from the assembly line at the General Motors Corp. plant on Broening Highway in East Baltimore. He had worked for the automaker for about 20 years. Earlier, the Annapolis native had been a merchant sea- an.
Graveside services for Mr. Chance were to be conducted at 11:15 a.m. today at Loudon Park Cemetery, 3801 Frederick Ave. in Baltimore.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, the former Elizabeth Marion Shagogue; two sons, George R. Chance of Brodbeck, Pa., and Brian Francis Chance of Cockeysville; a daughter, Susan Golden of Owings Mills; and four grandchildren.
Valerian Mahala
Benedictine monk
The Rev. Valerian Mahala, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk who was assistant pastor of two churches in Southwest Baltimore, died Saturday of cancer at the infirmary of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa.
Father Valerian, who was 80, was a native of Hannastown, Pa., who entered the Roman Catholic Order of St. Benedict in 1933. He was ordained a priest in 1940.
He was a graduate of St. Vincent College and St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe.
In Baltimore, he was assistant pastor of St. Benedict from 1944 to 1947 and Fourteen Holy Martyrs from 1957 to 1961.
He had also been a pastor or assistant pastor at churches in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. For 12 years, he was chaplain of St. Benedict Convent in Pittsburgh until he retired and moved to the archabbey in 1985.
A Mass of Christian burial for Father Valerian was offered yesterday at the St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica.
He is survived by a sister, Susan Stana of Fredericksburg, Va.; and several nieces and nephews.