Lorraine Willis, NSA employee

Lorraine Augusta Willis, a retired National Security Agency employee, died of a brain hemorrhage June 30 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. The former Annapolis and Arnold resident was 87.

Born Lorraine Augusta Bass in Baltimore, she was the daughter of Oliver M. Bass, a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad conductor, and Elizabeth Johnson Bass, a homemaker.

She was raised in Glen Burnie and was a 1944 graduate of Glen Burnie High School. Shortly after her graduation, she married Stamey J. Willis, who owned a plumbing and heating business.

Mrs. Willis joined a Fort Meade Civil Service division of the old War Department during World War II. She later worked as a secretary for the Maryland General Assembly and then joined the National Security Agency. She retired nearly 20 years ago.

Mrs. Willis was a member of the Inner Wheel of the Glen Burnie Rotary Club.

Family members said she was an avid reader, fond of history and novels. They said she was also an accomplished cook and was known for her crab cakes, crab soup, sour beef and dumplings, and pound cake, which she served at family gatherings.

She also did needlepoint and played bridge and games of pitch. She enjoyed country music and music of the 1940s.

Mrs. Willis spent several years living in Cupertino, Calif., in the 1980s.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Barranco & Sons Severna Park Funeral Home, 495 Ritchie Highway.

Survivors include a son, Stamey J. "Jerry" Willis II of Glen Burnie; a daughter, Jill Willis O'Connor of Southborough, Mass.; a sister, Olive Bennett of Columbia; and four grandchildren. Her husband of 25 years died in 1969.

jacques.kelly@baltsun.com