Samuel M. Wright, 84, Bethlehem Steel worker
Samuel M. Wright, a retired Bethlehem Steel worker who faithfully visited convalescing members of his church for years until illness struck, died Sunday at Northwest Hospital Center. He had been stricken by pneumonia, kidney failure and a heart attack. He was 84.
An active member of Faith Baptist Church in East Baltimore, Mr. Wright continued his nursing home rounds even after moving to Randallstown about 16 years ago. He began taking public transportation after he stopped driving last year.
In addition to his 60 years of dedication to the church, Mr. Wright also organized the Eastside Democratic Organization in East Baltimore, and he was a founder and board member of the East Baltimore Community Corp.
Mr. Wright was born in Littleton, N.C. As an 18-year-old farmhand, he decided to move to Maryland for a better life. He found work at American Standard before serving in the Army during World War II, where he earned a Purple Heart, said his daughter, Sandra Wright.
Mr. Wright worked for Bethlehem Steel for 33 years, retiring in 1980. A memorial service was held yesterday at Faith Baptist Church.
Mr. Wright is also survived by his wife of 54 years, Lillian Elizabeth Wright; a stepson, Raymond Harris of Perry Hall; a brother, Clinton Wright of Plainfield, N.J.; sisters Hattie Cavenar of Philadelphia, Pa., Lorene Royster and Rosetta Smith of Portsmouth, Va., and Vivian Carter of Middleton, N.C.; and two grandchildren.
Dennis Michael Allen, 50, IBM sales executive
Dennis Michael Allen, a longtime sales executive for IBM in Baltimore, died Sunday of brain cancer at his home in the Lake Walker community. He was 50.
Mr. Allen had survived for five years after doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital had given him two years to live.
Two summers ago, with the doctors' prognosis in mind, Mr. Allen took his wife, Deborah Doyle Allen, and his son, Christopher Penn Allen of Morgantown, W. Va., on a 10-day Alaska cruise. It was an anniversary gift for his wife and college graduation gift for his son.
For International Business Machines, Mr. Allen sold operating systems and services to the military, airports and corporations. He had taken the job after two years at the FBI, where he was a field agent in Washington investigating white-collar crime.
Mr. Allen was an avid gardener, cultivating a rose collection. Often, he joined his son and friends for hunting trips in Virginia.
Born in Independence, Mo., Mr. Allen was raised mostly in Franklin, Ohio, by an aunt and uncle. His father abandoned the family when Mr. Allen was 2 years old, and his mother died of cancer when he was 9.
Mr. Allen attended Ohio State University through an Air Force ROTC program. In college, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business.
He briefly served in the Air Force.
Mr. Allen moved to Baltimore in 1987, when IBM transferred him from Washington.
A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Dec. 21 at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, York and Overbrook roads, Rodgers Forge.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Allen is survived by his ex-wife, Marilyn Penn Allen of Germantown; and brothers James Patrick Allen of Corpus Christi, Texas, James Maurice Allen of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and Danny Kuhn and Randy Kuhn of Corbin, Ky.
John J. Gibbons Sr., 73, maintenance worker
John J. "Jack" Gibbons Sr., a retired maintenance worker at St. Joseph Passionist Monastery Roman Catholic Church, died of an aortic aneurysm Sunday at Northwest Hospital Center. He was 73.
Mr. Gibbons, who had lived in the Rockdale section of Baltimore County, was born and raised in Catonsville. He was a 1946 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School and during the late 1940s, served with the Army in Alaska.
In 1951, Mr. Gibbons went to work for Koontz Dairy as a wholesale route salesman, serving small grocery stores. After the dairy went bankrupt in the 1970s, he was a truck driver for several years for Grasmick Lumber Co.
He worked in maintenance at St. Joseph Passionist Monastery Roman Catholic Church in Irvington until retiring in 1992.
An excellent mechanic who enjoyed working on cars, Mr. Gibbons liked helping family members and neighbors solve their home improvement or mechanical problems.
"If he wasn't helping someone in the family, he was helping a neighbor," said his son, John J. "Jack" Gibbons Jr., online editor of Sunspot, The Sun's on-line Web site, and a resident of Phoenix in Baltimore County.
"He had a gift for working on engines, he had the ability to do carpentry and just about anything else with his hands. He had a mind for problem-solving. He was happiest when he was working alongside family and friends," the son said.
Mr. Gibbons had been a member for many years of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Catonsville.
A Mass of Christian burial was offered for Mr. Gibbons on Thursday at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Randallstown.
In addition to his son, Mr. Gibbons is survived by his wife of 52 years, the former Gloria L. Wise; two daughters, Colleen Hoffmeister of Sykesville and Valerie Jackson of Ellicott City; a brother, Francis Gibbons of Towson; two sisters, Dorothy Cutter of Catonsville and Mary Ferrara of Ellicott City; and 11 grandchildren.