Frances C. Ripley Martin, 88, steeplechase rider
Frances Caroline Ripley Martin, a former steeplechase rider and fox hunter, died Feb. 25 of cancer at Anne Arundel Medical Center. She was 88.
The former Frances Caroline Townshend was born at Four Winds Farm in Davidsonville and lived most of her life on the 155-acre working farm that has been in her family since 1890. She graduated from Annapolis High School in 1932.
As a young woman, she was a noted equestrian, competing in the show ring and the steeplechase. She participated in fox hunting as a member of the Marlborough Hunt Club in Upper Marlboro.
In 1938, she married R. Graydon Ripley Sr., who was killed while serving in the Army during World War II. She married Donald H. Martin in 1951 and resided in Lee, N.H. After his death in 1965, she returned to Four Winds Farm.
She was a communicant of All Hallows Episcopal Chapel, 864 W. Central Ave., Davidsonville, where a Requiem Mass will be offered at 1 p.m. Saturday.
She is survived by two sons, R. Graydon Ripley Jr. and Charles Townshend Ripley, both of Davidsonville; a brother, Charles B. Townshend of Annapolis; and three grandchildren.
Ramon M. Ceci, 57, longshoreman, activist
Ramon M. Ceci, a longshoreman and community activist who helped to found the All Peoples Congress in Baltimore, died Saturday of cancer at home in Philadelphia. He was 57 and also had a residence in Northeast Baltimore.
In the 1980s, he helped establish the All Peoples Congress, a community group that sought to end federal budget cuts, war and racism during the Reagan administration. Since then, the group shifted its focus to fighting slumlords, working for a rent control bill in Baltimore and acting as an advocate for welfare recipients.
Mr. Ceci was a longshoreman in Locust Point and Dundalk.
The native of Wilmington, Del., served in the Navy in the late 1950s and graduated from the University of Delaware in the mid-1960s.
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. March 19 at the All Peoples Congress Hall, 426 E. 31st St.
He is survived by his wife, the former Berta Joubert, whom he married about 1990; a son, Steven Ceci of Los Angeles; his mother, Gilda Ceci of Wilmington; a brother, Steven Ceci of Ithaca, N.Y.; four sisters, Lucy Shoup of Winter Haven, Fla., Judy Grenda of Wilmington, Michelle Staniszewski of New York state and Renee Greig of San Diego; and a longtime friend, Sharon Ceci of Baltimore.
James L. Curtis, 59, founded janitorial service
James L. Curtis, founder and president of Professional Janitorial Services Inc., died Feb. 25 of an aneurysm aboard the Carnival Cruise ship MS Sensation. The Cockeysville resident was 59.
He established the janitorial business in 1987 and sold it last year. Earlier, he was a marketing representative for Burlington Industries and a buyer of menswear for Hecht Co.
He was a longtime volunteer at Bea Gaddy's Patterson Park Emergency Services and a member of the Towson Elks Lodge.
The Cockeysville native graduated from Towson High School.
He was a member of Ashland Presbyterian Church, 116 Ashland Road, Cockeysville, where services will be held at 11 a.m. today.
He is survived by his wife of 30 years, the former Irma Patterson; two daughters, Tina P. Curtis of Long Island, N.Y., and Sabrina Seubert of Algonquin, Ill.; his mother, Lottie A. Hogarth of Towson; and seven grandchildren.
Pub Date: 3/04/99