Milton H. Gable, a retired plumber who had worked at the National Security Agency, died Tuesday of colon cancer at Northwest Hospital Center. He was 85 and a longtime Lansdowne resident.
Mr. Gable was born on his family's Gable Avenue farm in Southwest Baltimore. After the death of his mother when he was 8 years old, he and a sister were placed in the General German Orphan Home in Catonsville.
"His father, who had been born in 1865, was elderly and could only care for the older children," said his son, Charles M. Gable of Ellicott City.
Mr. Gable, who was an outstanding athlete at Catonsville High School where he played soccer, basketball and baseball, was offered a "professional baseball contract with the St. Louis Cardinals" after he graduated in 1942, his son said.
In 1943, he enlisted in the Navy and served as a signalman aboard convoy vessels in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
Discharged in 1946, Mr. Gable took advantage of the G.I. Bill and became a licensed plumber. He worked during the post-war housing boom building houses and later switched to commercial construction.
From 1976 until retiring in 1989, he worked for the U.S. General Services Administration, where he was assigned as a plumber at NSA's headquarters at Fort Meade.
Mr. Gable was an avid thoroughbred horse racing fan and enjoyed visiting racetracks throughout the state.
"He knew all of them," his son said, with a laugh.
His wife of 51 years, the former Lillian Bealefeld, died in 1998.
At Mr. Gable's request, there will be no services.
Also surviving are a brother, Bertie Landgridge of Govans; a sister, Mildred Hobbs of Linthicum Heights, and a granddaughter.