Mary M. "Maidie" Walker, who was active for decades in the affairs of the old St. John's Episcopal Church in Mount Washington, died Friday at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson of respiratory failure. She was 103.
A descendant of the settlers of Deal Island, Mary Deal Mount was born in Baltimore and raised in Mount Washington, the daughter of John Keener Mount, an insurance executive, and Roberta Welsh Owens Mount, a homemaker.
"One of her favorite sayings was, 'I was born in 1912, the year the Titanic went down, and I came up,'" said her son, Stephen Walker of Monkton.
She attended Girls' Latin School and graduated from St. Mary's Female Seminary-Junior College, then a finishing school, which is now St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Mrs. Walker worked briefly as a bookkeeper for Kirby Engravers and the Norman Remington Co., the North Charles Street bookstore. During the 1960s, she worked part time in admissions at the Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital.
In 1938, she married Hamilton G. Walker Sr., a J.F. Greiner & Co. civil engineer. He died in 1990.
The couple were longtime residents of the historic octagon house on Sulgrave Avenue in Mount Washington, which dates to the mid-1800s.
A deeply religious person, Mrs. Walker was a communicant of the now-closed St. John's Episcopal Church on South Road, where she was a member of the vestry, headed the Altar Guild and helped establish Treasure Alley, a church thrift store.
She was also a longtime member of the Order of the Daughters of the King, a Christian service organization.
Mrs. Walker also volunteered at the Joseph Richey House in downtown Baltimore.
After the couple moved to the Charlestown retirement community in 1986, Mrs. Walker organized afternoon teas and a monthly Episcopal service for residents. She was also active in the Charlestown Bible Study Group.
Until her death, she was president of the Renaissance Council for the Renaissance Gardens at Charlestown.
An opera buff, Mrs. Walker was a season subscription holder to the old Baltimore Opera Company. She also liked vacationing during the summer with family in New England and Maine.
Mrs. Walker followed no particular regime in achieving a long life, her son said.
"She always said she 'liked living' whenever she was asked that question," said Mr. Walker. "She had quit smoking years and years ago, and liked eating oysters with a glass of sherry. She thought that was heaven."
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. June 11 in the chapel at Charlestown, 711 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville.
In addition to her son, she is survived by her daughter, Priscilla Huffman of Timonium; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Another son, Hamilton G. Walker Jr., died in 2014.