Alvin H. Schupp, who rose from a job as a runner in his teens to manager of collections and operations officer at Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Co. during a career spanning four decades, died of Parkinson's disease Tuesday at Oak Crest Village. He was 93.
The son of Frank Schupp, purchasing agent for the Old Bay Line steamship company, and Verbie Griffin Schupp, a garment worker, Alvin Hanson Schupp was born at his parents' home in the 3000 block of Ravenwood Road.
He attended City College for three years and withdrew his senior year after the death of his father. A family friend arranged for him to get a job at Safe-Deposit and Trust Co. as a runner carrying money and documents between banks.
He attended Baltimore Evening High School at City College part time for two years and earned his diploma in 1941.
He met and fell in love with the former Virginia Mason, who was a fellow night student. The couple married in 1943.
In 1942, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve and was told that because of his background in banking, he was qualified to serve in naval intelligence.
He was sent to Italy, where among other duties in Naples and Rome, he screened the contents of outgoing mail for security issues.
At war's end, he was discharged with the rank of yeoman first class and resumed his banking career in the bank's collection department. He also enrolled at the University of Baltimore, where he spent two years studying accounting at night.
Mr. Schupp's department was responsible for collecting and recording such things as stock dividends and rent payments, and depositing them in trust accounts. He was manager of collections at the time of the bank's merger in 1954 with Mercantile Trust & Deposit Co.
He was then promoted to manager of the corporate trust department, and at his retirement in 1985 was operations officer in the trust department at Mercantile.
The former Northeast Baltimore and Rosedale resident moved in 1972 to Kincaid Road in Baldwin, where he and his wife had built a home.
His wife died in 1995. In 2006, Mr. Schupp moved to the Parkville retirement community.
Mr. Schupp enjoyed vacationing in the summer with his family at the Sea Terrace in Ocean City.
"Being surrounded by his family was the key thing. He loved holiday gatherings at his home," said David Michael Ettlin, Mr. Schupp's son-in-law and a retired Baltimore Sun editor who lives in Pasadena.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Towson United Methodist Church, 501 Hampton Lane.
Mr. Schupp is survived by three daughters, Bonnie Jean Schupp of Pasadena, Nancy Lee Ayers of Jarrettsville and Jaymie Lynn Watts of Jacksonville; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.