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Edward Leo Healy III, the former manager of the Perring Place Restaurant, died of sepsis after hernia surgery May 9 at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 55 and lived in Northeast Baltimore.
Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Edward L. Healy Jr., who was also a restaurant manager, and Susanne Muratore, a teacher. He was a 1976 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, where he played basketball, and earned a bachelor's degree at Loyola University Maryland.
Mr. Healy grew up in Northwood along Loch Raven Boulevard. He played with the children of Orioles player Boog Powell and Colts tight end Jim Mutscheller. An uncle was a Colt season ticket holder and took him to numerous games.
"There was a whole contingent from Little Italy. They all sat together and brought meatball subs to eat," said his sister, Rosalind "Roz" Healy of Baltimore.
While in college, he was a manager with Volume Services, a catering firm that served Memorial Stadium. Mr. Healy later leased the ballpark's Pizza Tower, a food stand located behind home plate. He worked with his sister to staff the business and there he met his future wife, Mary Lou Di Marco. While he operated the stand, President Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy, was a customer.
After the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the closing of Memorial Stadium, Mr. Healy joined his father as part of management at Perring Place, a Perring Parkway restaurant that opened in 1967 and was owned by attorney Peter G. Angelos, the Orioles owner.
When Mr. Angelos purchased the old Tail of the Fox in Timonium and renamed it Shane's, the senior Mr. Healy became its manager. His son assumed the management position at Perring Place and held the post for nearly two decades.
"Over the years, Ed came to know an amazing number of people. He had repeat customers who rarely missed a week there," his sister said. "Perring Place was almost a cafeteria for the professors at Morgan State. He knew Homer Favor and other elder statesmen of the civil rights movement in Baltimore such as the Rev. Marion Bascom. My brother put in a lot of time there. The restaurant closed one day a year, at Christmas."
She said that many of his customers thought the crab cakes were the best in Baltimore and called upon Mr. Healy to pack them in dry ice for shipment throughout the country. She said he would also call customers to tell them the restaurant had some extra flavorful calves' liver, a dish that developed a following and was often accompanied by stewed tomatoes and lima beans.
The Morning Sun
Colleagues said he knew which customers preferred the clams casino and crab soup or whether they had the coconut cake for dessert.
After leaving Perring Place about 2011, he became a procurement officer at the Department of Human Resources, where he worked at his death.
Family members said that while Mr. Healy followed local sports, he preferred a game of basketball with his five children. He coached them and attended their school games.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, 5300 N. Charles St., where he was a member.
In addition to his mother and sister, survivors include his wife of nearly 27 years, the former Mary Lou Di Marco, a Cathedral School teacher; two sons, Edward L. Healy IV and Michael A. Healy; and three daughters, Diana M. Healy, Angela G. Healy and Gloria R. Healy. All are of Baltimore.