Mildred E. Jordan

Nurse, teacher

Mildred Elizabeth Jordan, a retired registered nurse who was the first black teacher at Johns Hopkins Hospital, died Wednesday at Francis Scott Key Medical Center of complications from sarcoidosis. She was 71.

Mrs. Jordan, who worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a nurse and teacher for more than 30 years, also conducted orientations for new hospital employees.

"My mother wasn't so much impressed with the fact of being the first African-American teacher at Hopkins," said her daughter, Patricia Jordan White of Baltimore.

"It was more important to her that she was able to open the door for others . . . she was the guiding light and now others could follow. And it was most important to her that she was able to pass her knowledge on to others."

The former Mildred Elizabeth Molock was reared in Cambridge. She moved to Baltimore in the early 1940s and received an associate of arts degree in nursing from the Community College of Baltimore.

She and her husband, John F. Jordan, were married for 51 years.

Mrs. Jordan, who lived in East Baltimore, frequently shared her nursing knowledge with neighbors, friends and family members, often going out in the middle of the night to assist in an emergency until medical help arrived.

A member of Christ United Methodist Church in Baltimore for more than 35 years, Mrs. Jordan was instrumental in establishing church programs that would help increase health awareness among parishioners and the community. She organized blood pressure and breast cancer programs and was in charge of the church's annual health fair.

After her retirement in 1985, Mrs. Jordan continued to work at health fairs and advise people on health issues.

She was a member of the Licensed Practical Nursing Association, the American Registered Nursing Association, and the United Methodist Women Nursing Unit of Christ United Methodist Church.

Services were to be held at 7 p.m. today at Christ United Methodist Church, Chase and Washington streets. Burial will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery.

In addition to her husband and her daughter, Mrs. Jordan is also survived by three other daughters, Dorothea Jordan, Beverly Jordan-Cook and W. Annette Jordan Dredden, all of Baltimore; a brother, Ernest Molock of Wilmington, Del.; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

The family suggested memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association. Margaret M. Bailey, a native of Hampton, Va., who had lived in Baltimore since 1988, died Friday at Deaton Hospital in Baltimore of complications from diabetes.

She was 71. She had moved to Baltimore the year her granddaughter, Megan Roberts, was born.

Mrs. Bailey was born in 1923 in Elizabeth City County, Va., now known as York County. In 1941 she graduated from York County Training School, the local high school. She qualified as a registered nurse in 1944 at the Dixie Hospital School of Nursing, which was affiliated with the then-Hampton Institute, now Hampton University.

In 1948 she married Samuel Bailey. The couple had one child, Maryalyce, who moved to Baltimore to pursue a master's degree in social work at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Mr. Bailey died in 1970.

Throughout her life Mrs. Bailey held several nursing jobs. She worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Hampton, Va., and other hospitals, a nursing home and in private duty before retiring.

She also was a member of the St. Mary's Chapter No. 4, Order of the Eastern Star, and sang in the Women's Community Chorus of Hampton that often performed with the Harry T. Burleigh Glee Club. She also was known for her volunteer work at two Hampton area churches: New Bethel Baptist Church of York County and Zion Baptist Church of the Phoebus section of Hampton.

When her granddaughter was born, Mrs. Bailey came to Baltimore for an extended vacation that became a permanent move so she could be near the child and her own daughter.

A viewing for her Baltimore friends was to be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Loring-Byers Funeral Home in Randallstown. Another viewing is scheduled for tomorrow in Hampton, Va., at Smith Brothers Funeral Home from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a wake from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the New Bethel Baptist Church; burial follows in the church cemetery.

In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, Mrs. Bailey is survived by an aunt, Mabel Kearse; a nephew, Eston Howard Jr.; and two great-nephews, Christopher and Otis Howard, all of Hampton, Va.

Pearl Messer

Office manager

Pearl Messer, a homemaker and office manager for many years, died Saturday of cancer at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown. She was 68.

A native of Pittsburgh who moved to Baltimore as a child, the former Pearl Morgan was a 1944 graduate of Western High School.

After working for a time for Liberty Mutual Insurance, she married Ronald "Rocky" Messer and devoted herself to raising their family.

Thirteen years ago, Mrs. Messer returned to the work force as an office manager for a local printing firm, retiring in 1990 when she was diagnosed with cancer.

An avid reader and talented knitter, she also enjoyed traveling and visiting her grandchildren. Mrs. Messer was an active member of the Rogers Avenue Synagogue, serving as treasurer of its sisterhood for more than 30 years.

Services were to be held at 1 p.m. today at Sol Levinson & Bros. Funeral Home, 6010 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore. Interment will be at the Mickro Kodesh-Beth Israel Cemetery on Bowley's Lane in Baltimore.

In addition to her husband of 42 years, who is a retired Westinghouse radar technician, Mrs. Messer is survived by a son, Alan Messer of Atlanta, Ga.; two daughters, Lynn Sontowski of Wilmington, Del., and Stephanie Harley of Buffalo, N.Y.; a sister, Jean Mandell of Columbus, Ohio; a brother, Bernard Morgan, of Palm Springs, Calif.; and three grandchildren.

The family suggested memorial donations to the American Cancer Society.

Charles Pryseski

Clothing salesman

Charles Pryseski, known to his friends as "Charlie Pry" who was formerly a salesman for Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, died Wednesday of an apparent stroke at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Pryseski was 76.

He had been transferred Tuesday to Washington Hospital Center from St. Joseph Hospital in Towson.

Mr. Pryseski was born Jan. 26, 1918, in Bellaire, Ohio, and was a 1935 graduate of Bellaire High School. Although he was offered scholarships, he went to work to help his mother and his family because of the Depression by serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps for two years.

A noted local singer in the Ohio Valley, Mr. Pryseski planned to launch a professional singing career in New York, but he stopped in Baltimore to visit relatives and stayed to work for the Glenn L. Martin Co.

In 1943, the year he married the former Eleanor Lentowski in Baltimore, he was drafted in the Army. He served as a private from June 1943 until January 1944, when he was honorably discharged after injuring his knee during a training exercise.

He and his wife settled in Northwood, and in 1945, Mr. Pryseski went to work for the Sun Life Insurance Co. He retired from Sun Life in 1980, but worked part time as a starter at Mount Pleasant Golf Course until 1984. From 1980 until 1991, he also worked as a salesman at the Jos. A. Banks store in Towson.

In October 1993, he and his 71-year-old wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Mr. Pryseski was a member of the American Legion, Parkville Post No. 183 and the Knights of Columbus.

A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. today. Burial will be in Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Gary and Kevin Pryseski; a daughter, Charlene Pryseski; two grandsons, Grant and Charles Cody Pryseski; and a granddaughter, Margaret Miceli, all of Baltimore.

The family suggests contributions be made to the American Heart Association.