James A. Klohr
Owned welding business
James A. Klohr, a retired welder, died Friday at Meridian Nursing Center in Randallstown of complications from pneumonia. He was 79.
Mr. Klohr, who was born and reared in Randallstown, started a welding business, Klohr's Repair Service, on Liberty Road in 1944. He retired in 1975, when his son, Robert J. Klohr Sr. of Rockdale, took over the operation.
Mr. Klohr, a Catonsville High School graduate, was active in several community organizations, including the Masonic Freedom Lodge 112, the Reisterstown Moose Lodge 1577 and the Eastern Star Lodge 87. He was a member of the Liberty Road Volunteer Fire Department.
He was a lifelong member of the Mount Olive United Methodist Church on Old Court Road. There, he was christened, went to Sunday School and was married, said his daughter, Frances L. Fischer of Cockeysville.
For the past 12 years, Mr. Klohr and his wife of 55 years, the former Hilda Cunningham, had divided their time between Jensen Beach, Fla., and their Rockdale home.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Loring Byers Funeral Home, 8728 Liberty Road.
In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Mr. Klohr is survived by four grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the church's building fund. Frank Luke Astarita Jr. -- a Baltimore police officer, collector of police memorabilia and designer of police trading cards -- died Wednesday of cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 35.
"The police department meant everything to him," said his mother, Beverly Astarita-Huster of Dundalk. "I think it runs in the blood."
His father was a police officer in Anne Arundel County; an uncle and cousin also were officers.
Mr. Astarita of Dundalk, who worked most of his career in the police department's communications and personnel divisions, collected city police memorabilia, including badges, patches and models of cruisers.
He also designed the city officers' trading cards, which will be made available to the public in two months. His hope was to relay his love for police work to youth throughout Baltimore.
Despite being diagnosed with cancer five years ago, Mr. Astarita continued to work -- although he sometimes needed two canes to walk. He stopped working in October, after the cancer made it too difficult for him.
"He was dedicated to work, to family, to friends," said Patricia Lee Astarita, his wife of two-and-a-half years. "The day before he died he was worried about getting Christmas presents for people."
His caring for people also led him to volunteer at Echo House, a Harford County shelter for victims of domestic violence.
"He touched a lot of people," said Peggy Glassman, who invited Mr. Astarita to work at the shelter as a role model for two boys. "He would give you the shirt off of his back. He would do anything for anybody."
In his spare time, he coached several softball teams, including the Dundalk Eastfield Recreation Council women's team, which won the national division championship in 1991.
Born in Columbus, Ga., Mr. Astarita grew up in Dundalk. He graduated from Dundalk Senior High School in 1977 and joined the Maryland Air National Guard, where he was a military police officer and member of the Honor Guard.
A Mass of Christian burial was to be offered at 9 a.m. today at the Sacred Heart of Mary Church, 6726 Youngstown Ave. Interment will be held at the Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery, 7501 German Hill Road.
In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Astarita is survived by a stepdaughter, Amy L. Lipinski of Dundalk; his stepfather, Ken Huster of Dundalk; a sister, Debra Astarita Hood of Parkton; and a brother, Howard Luke Astarita of Essex.
Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 43025, Baltimore 21236. Emagene P. Dollenberg, a longtime Towson resident who was active in the community, died Saturday at Pickersgill, a Towson retirement community, after a long illness. She was 89.
She had lived in Towson since she married Frederick H. Dollenberg in 1965. She moved to Pickersgill in October.
Mrs. Dollenberg was active in several community organizations including the P.E.O. Philanthropic Sorority of which she had been a member for 50 years. She also was a member of the Western Electric Pioneers, the Towson State University Alumni Association and the Maryland Daffodil Society.
She was born Emagene Porter in Arkansas and moved to a farm in Montgomery County with her family in 1917.
She graduated from the former Towson Normal School, now Towson State, in 1926 and taught in Montgomery County schools for five years before going to work for Western Electric Co. in Baltimore. She was a saleswoman at the Hecht Co. in Northwood in the 1950s.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at Towson United Methodist Church, 501 Hampton Lane. Memorial donations may be made to the church.
Besides her husband, Mrs. Dollenberg is survived by a son, Dr. George E. Henning of Germany; a daughter, Marilyn H. Gabor of Baltimore; a stepdaughter, Judy D. Sterling of Gloucester, Va.; two sisters, Rose Porter of Timonium and Virginia P. Chichester of Brookville; three grandchildren; and three step-grandchildren.
Her first husband, George E. Henning, died in 1963.