Elizabeth L. Krinkey, 71, grocery cashier

Elizabeth L. Krinkey, 71, grocery cashier

Elizabeth LaVerne Krinkey, a Pikesville grocery cashier, died Wednesday of cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. She was 71.

Mrs. Krinkey, a Pikesville resident, retired several years ago from her job at the Greenspring Avenue Farm Fresh, where customers sought out her register line for friendly conversation.

Born Elizabeth LaVerne Smith, she grew up on Preston Street in Baltimore. and attended St. Andrew's Business School.

After graduation, she worked at a local insurance agency as a rater and underwriter - a job that required women to wear white gloves and a proper hat - and spent nearly every weekend at Ocean City with her sisters and girlfriends.

In 1951, she married John E. Clancy, who died in 1965. In 1967, she married Donald Krinkey Sr., whom she divorced in 1982.

She went back to work part time in 1981 at the Farm Fresh.

An Orioles fan, Mrs. Krinkey could also be found on the sidelines of her grandchildren's baseball and lacrosse games.

She also enjoyed reading and her family's annual vacations to Cape May, N.J., where the old beach houses and tiny boardwalk reminded her of the Ocean City she knew as a girl.

Services were held Friday at Our Lady of Victory Church, where Mrs. Krinkey was once a member.

She is survived by three daughters, Linda Galvin of Keymar; Jacqueline Peterson of White Hall, and Laura Bossi of Towson; a son, Kevin Clancy of Westminster; two sisters, Thelma Bollack of Lewes, Del., and Arlene Holthaus of Parkville; a brother, Jacob Smith of Joppatowne; and seven grandchildren.