Gordon C. Whiting
Farmer, raconteur
Gordon C. Whiting, a farmer and storyteller whose ancestors were early settlers of Maryland and Virginia, died April 13 of heart failure at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 84.
He was the son of G. W. C. Whiting, who founded the Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., and was reared by his grandparents, Clarence Carlyle Whiting and Marian Gordon Whiting in Roland Park. His grandfather entertained him with stories of his Civil War exploits when he served with a Confederate cavalry unit until surrendering at Appomattox Court House, Va., in 1865.
He was also related to Col. George Armistead, who defended Fort McHenry during the British bombardment in 1814, and to John Hanson, first president of the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
He particularly enjoyed showing visitors a desk in his living room that once belonged to Lawrence Washington, who bequeathed the desk to his brother, George, after his death. In turn, George Washington gave the desk as a wedding gift to Mr. Whiting's ancestor, Elizabeth Marshall Colston, who was the sister of John Marshall, a chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Whiting attended the Calvert School, Marston School and Gilman. He briefly worked for his father and later worked for several Baltimore insurance companies.
During World War II, he enlisted as a private in the 5th Maryland Regiment and, after earning a commission, transferred to the Army Air Forces, building airfields and support facilities in the China-Burma-India Theater.
He was discharged with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1946 and returned to Maryland, where he purchased his Worthington Valley farm, Huntly, which was named after the home of his Scottish ancestors. He raised sheep and crops.
Mr. Whiting liked to entertain and regularly attended the Maryland Hunt Cup.
"He filled his house with friends and conversation," said Thomas Young, his son-in-law. "He often knew more about his friends' families than they themselves and could recount endless affectionate anecdotes about them from his store of information accumulated over a lifetime of listening and observation."
He was married in 1943 to the former Keith Key Keesee, an actress and model who died in 1990.
He is survived by a daughter, Keith Beverly Whiting Young of Baltimore; and two grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Johns Church in Glyndon or the G. W. C. Whiting School of Engineering, the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
Services were held April 16.
Helen N. Farquhar
Volunteer worker
Helen Nesbitt Farquhar, who did volunteer work, died Friday of cancer at The Cedars, her home in Sandy Spring in Montgomery County. She was 96.
She did volunteer work as a member of the Women's Board of Montgomery General Hospital and the auxiliary of the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department.
The former Helen Nesbitt was a native of nearby Ashton and attended the Sherwood School in the area before enrolling at the Friends School in Baltimore, from which she graduated in 1916.
She then attended Wellesley College but left before graduation to do volunteer work in Washington during World War I.
In 1919, she married Arthur Douglas Farquhar, and they moved into his family home, where she remained until her death. Mr. Farquhar died in 1977.
A daughter, Ann Forbush, whose husband, Byron Forbush, is headmaster of Friends School in Baltimore, and a son, Norman Farquhar of Washington, both died in 1992.
Services were to be held at 2 p.m. today at the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting, of which she was a member.
She is survived by a daughter, Margaret Adelfio of Chevy Chase; a son, Gordon Farquhar of Weekapaug, R.I.; 14 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.
J. Mallory Taylor III
Auto parts executive
J. Mallory Taylor III, retired president and chief executive officer of Ditch, Bowers & Taylor Inc., an automotive parts and supplies company that was established as a livery stable in 1836, died Saturday of congestive heart failure at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 75 and retired last year.
He joined the company in 1940 "after an uncle forbid him to go to work for a liquor distributorship," said his wife, the former Barbara Blunt of Dorsey Hall, Howard County, whom he married in 1941.
He was a descendant of J. S. Ditch, founder of Ditch's Palace Stables and Riding Academy, which later merged with William Bowers, a coach-maker.
The business was at Mount Royal and North avenues, "where many of the older generation learned to straddle a horse," said an article in The Sun in 1930. That year, a fire destroyed the building and the company rebuilt on the same site.
"The stables and livery business remained for some years after the advent of automobiles, but finally the business was closed out as motor-driven machines took the place of horse-drawn vehicles," said the article.
Switching to automobile parts in 1913, the business became the exclusive distributor of Willard Batteries when Henry Ford and Thomas Edison signed an agreement with J. Mallory Taylor II, Mr. Taylor's father.
Mr. Taylor was reared in the Ten Hills section of the city and was a 1937 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School. He also attended the Johns Hopkins University.
During World War II, he was a boatswain's mate in the Coast Guard, assigned to patrol duty on the Patuxent River. He was discharged in 1945.
He and his wife lived for more than 40 years in the Lake Falls area of Baltimore County and resided part of the year at their retirement home in Key Colony Beach, Fla.
A Mass of Christian burial was to be held at 11 a.m. today at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 1701 Regent Road, Mount Washington.
Other survivors include a son, J. Mallory "Pete" Taylor IV of Virginia Beach, Va.; a daughter, Barbara Taylor Schofield of Baltimore; a sister, Esther Taylor Moran of Homeland; and four grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 1701 Regent Road, Baltimore 21209.
Franklin N. Tuck
Arts shop owner
Franklin N. Tuck, who operated an arts and crafts shop in Dundalk, died Thursday of cancer at his home in the Watersedge section of Dundalk. He was 70.
In 1985, he opened Wildlife Gallery on Holabird Avenue. Several years ago, the store moved to Logan Village Shopping Center on Dundalk Avenue.
Earlier, he was a millwright at Western Electric Co.'s Point Breeze plant from 1956 until he retired in 1983. He then worked in maintenance at Bon Secours Hospital until he opened the store.
He was born and reared in Rainelle, W.Va., where he attended local schools.
During World War II, he served in the Marine Corps and was discharged in 1948 with the rank of corporal. He moved to Baltimore in 1951 and was a butcher before joining Western Electric.
He ran for a seat in the House of Delegates in 1966 and was the Republican candidate for Baltimore County sheriff in 1974, losing both contests.
Services were to be held at 10 a.m. today at the Bradley-Ashton Funeral Home, Willow Spring Road and Dundalk Avenue, Dundalk, with interment at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, the former Odessa Staton of Buena Vista, Va.; three sons, Lou E. Tuckand Roger N. Tuck of Dundalk, and Michael W. Tuck of Hunt Valley; two daughters, Rebecca Smith and Brenda Mumford, both of Dundalk; three brothers, Leroy C. Tuck, and Samuel Tuck and James L. Tuck, all of Punta Gorda, Fla.; six sisters, Nancy Baker of Ames, W.Va., Carrie "Sis" Amacher of Richmond, Va., and Delores Surgeon Amalee Burns, Arletta Legg and Noel M. Tuck, all of Punta Gorda; and three grandchildren.