James S. Hebb Jr.
Bay pilot, real estate agent
James Stephen Hebb Jr., a Chesapeake Bay pilot who had a second career as a real estate agent, died Wednesday of brain cancer at his retirement home on Skidaway Island, Ga. He was 79.
He was born in Baltimore and lived in the city until 1987.
Captain Hebb's favorite stories centered on the ships he piloted -- among them the battleship Missouri, a tall sailing ship, aircraft carriers and World War II Liberty ships, said his grandson, James S. Hebb IV.
He steered more than 3,000 ships in and out of the Chesapeake Bay in a 25-year career that began in 1933, when he left City College to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a bay pilot.
After retiring from the Association of Maryland Pilots in 1958, he began a second career in residential real estate sales -- mostly with Piper Co., now O'Conor, Piper & Flynn. He was named salesman of the year in 1970 by the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors and a life member of the Realtors Million Dollar Round Table.
He served as a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard Reserve during World War II.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, the former Carolyn Musch; a son, James S. Hebb III of Alexandria, Va.; a brother, Dr. John H. Hebb of Baltimore; two sisters, Elma H. Brandt of Gaithersburg and Catherine H. Strauser of Baltimore; two grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
The family suggested donations to Project Liberty Ship John W. Brown, P.O. Box 25846, Baltimore, 21224-0846. Captain Hebb had piloted the ship, which is being restored.
Private burial services were held yesterday in Baltimore.
Frank Musil Jr.
Retired printer
Frank Musil Jr., a retired printer, died Friday of a heart attack at his Parkville home. He was 71.
He began his career in the composing room of The Baltimore Sun in 1939 at the newspaper's old Sun Square building at Baltimore and Charles streets. Formerly a Linotype operator, Mr. Musil was a makeup man assembling Evening Sun pages in the newspaper composing room when he retired in 1989.
Born in Baltimore, he was reared on Belair Road near Clifton Park and was a graduate of city schools. During World War II, he served with the Marine Corps in the Pacific and was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded. He was discharged in 1945.
He was married in 1945 to the former Anita Pfaff, who died in 1991.
Services were to be held at 11 a.m. today at the Evans Funeral Home, 8800 Harford Road.
Survivors include two daughters, Laura Musil of Parkville and Lois Jans of Fallston; a sister, Dorothy Yarbrough of Charles County; and two grandsons.
Lillian Smith
Retired secretary
Lillian Marguerite Griffin Single Smith, a retired secretary and volunteer, died of cancer Saturday at Franklin Square Hospital Center. She was 81.
The Rosedale resident worked as a secretary at the Maryland Fire Underwriters Rating Bureau for many years and, from 1959 until retiring in 1969, for American Export Lines.
Born and reared in the Pigtown section of Baltimore, she attended city schools and was a graduate of Southern High.
In 1933, she married William Single Jr., a Baltimore attorney, who died in 1959. In 1969, she married Louis J. Smith, the former owner of Louis J. Smith Sporting Goods in Highlandtown. He died in 1981.
She was active in several women's groups at United Evangelical Church in Highlandtown and had been a volunteer for Meals-On-Wheels. She also had been a member of the Eastern Star for more than half a century.
Services are set for 11 a.m. tomorrow at United Evangelical Church, 3200 Dillon St. She is survived by two sons, William Single III of Rosedale and Richard W. Single Sr. of the Phoenix section of Baltimore County; a stepdaughter, Madeline Schofield of Baltimore; a sister, Erna E. Shuley of Linthicum; four grandchildren; and three nieces.
Memorial donations may be made to the church. Gilbert P. Meyer, a retired postal worker who played football for one season with the Baltimore Colts, died Friday at the Loch Raven Meridian Nursing Center in Towson.
Mr. Meyer, 74, a longtime resident of Hillendale, had suffered from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases for a decade, said his wife, the former Betty Lee Hamilton.
He retired in 1985 as a mail carrier from the U.S. Postal Service, where he had worked 39 years. Family members said he was best known at the Roland Park post office. Mr. Meyer also had worked as a driver for The Baltimore Sun for 20 years.
Born and reared in East Baltimore, Mr. Meyer attended City College, where he was a defensive end on the football team and named to the All-Maryland team in 1939. He also played defensive end at Wake Forest University in North Carolina for two seasons.
He served in the Army from 1943 to 1946 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
In 1947, he played for the Colts in the old All-American Football Conference.
Services will be held at noon today at the Ruck Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Road.
Besides his wife, survivors include a son, Thomas D. Meyer, and a daughter, Joyce Lee Meyer-Kneeland, both of Baltimore; and a grandson.
Rev. Leonard F. Will
Missionary, chaplain
The Rev. Leonard F. Will, S.C.J., a native of Baltimore who was a missionary in South Africa before serving in retirement as a chaplain to fellow residents of the TABCO Towers Apartments in Towson, died of cancer Saturday at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Father Will, 85, had lived in the Towson apartment house for senior citizens from 1980 until a year ago when he moved to a residence for retired members of the Sacred Heart Fathers and Brothers in Pinellas Park, Fla.
Born in Baltimore, he was a graduate of Calvert Hall College and worked as an apprentice plumber before entering the order in 1934. He was ordained in 1940.
He had served in this country at churches in Chicago and in Cleveland, Texas, and as a teacher at Divine Heart Seminary in Donaldson, Ind., in addition to his work in South Africa from 1950 until 1974.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the headquarters of the United States Province of his order in Hales Corners, Wis.
He is survived by several cousins.
Genevieve Alford, 84, who taught briefly at what is now Towson State University, died Wednesday of a brain disorder at the Villa St. Michael Nursing and Retirement Center in Baltimore.
A native of Fayetteville, Ark., Dr. Alford received her doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina and taught elementary education at Towson and other schools, including Girard College in Philadelphia, and Delmar College in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Her son, Jack Garretson-Butt, died in 1976. She is survived by five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Services were held Sunday. The family suggested donations to Students Against Drunk Driving, 41 Washington Ave., Suite 300, Towson 21204; or Community Counseling, 10400 Ridgeland Road, Cockeysville 21030.
Lillian A. Ramsey, 76, a Baltimore native, died of cancer Friday at a hospital in Youngstown, Ohio. The former Lillian Griffiths was a graduate of Eastern High School and worked as a clerk in the Montgomery Ward & Co. warehouse as a young woman. She was a member of the Belvedere Baptist Church before moving from White Marsh to Canfield, Ohio, in 1965.
She is survived by her husband, Earl V. Ramsey Jr. of Canfield; a daughter, Kathy A. Ramsey of Canfield; a son, Mark E. Ramsey of Salem, Ohio; and five grandchildren.
Services were to be held at 2 p.m. today at the Lane Funeral Home in Canfield.