obituaries

Carol J. Shook, a former Miss Maryland and longtime Carroll County volunteer, died Monday of complications of Alzheimer's disease at Carroll Hospital Center. The lifelong Westminster resident was 84.

Peter A.B. Hoblitzell Jr., a retired insurance company executive and former chairman of the American Phoenix Corp. of Maryland, died Friday at Gilchrist Center Towson of a stroke after heart-valve replacement surgery. The Owings Mills resident was 86.

Lonny H. Weaver, a former longtime Carroll County Times outdoors writer who also wrote for the Baltimore Sun's Anne Arundel County zoned edition, died Saturday of kidney and heart disease at his New Windsor home. He was 72.

Ordell Braase, a former Baltimore Colt, died. He was 87.

George C. McGinty, Towson University's first women's gymnastics coach, who led the team to postseason competition and a national title, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at his Jarrettsville home. He was 85.

Dr. Donald B. Lurie, a retired maxillofacial; surgeon who enjoyed Dixieland and ragtime music, died Sunday from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Stella Maris Hospice. The Shrewsbury, Pa., resident was 85.

Harry Roe Hughes, the 57th governor of Maryland who was a champion of clean government and a clean Chesapeake Bay, died Wednesday, according to his family. He was 92.

Alfred "Fred" Abramson, an Essex pharmacist turned professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, where he became a beloved figure, died Saturday from heart failure at Sinai Hospital at age 84.

Judy Hinch, a longtime member of the Aberdeen Fire Department who also worked for the police department and at city hall, died Sunday, according to the fire department.

Dolores J. Pater, a retired Baltimore County schoolteacher and gardening enthusiast, died of cancer Thursday at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Ellicott City resident was 71.

Ethel Ennis, Baltimore's "First Lady of Jazz" who during her more than six decade career performed with Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong and thrilled audiences at the Newport and Monterey jazz festivals, died Sunday of a stroke at her Greater Mondawmin home. She was 86.

Iona C. Dorn, a veteran Baltimore County public educator and history buff, died Monday from complications of an infection at Genesis Cromwell Center in Parkville at age 98.

Elizabeth Ross assisted her husband, Dr. Richard Starr Ross, the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, at social events involving the faculty and volunteered extensively at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Hrachik "Ricki" Bostwick, a businesswoman and former registered nurse, died Wednesday from complications of lung cancer at her Cockeysville home at the age of 87.

Mary G. Snively, a retired credit manager who enjoyed gardening, died Saturday of heart failure at her Mount Airy home. She was 92.

Francis J. McGuire, a former longtime Loyola University Maryland dean, administrator and professor of chemistry, died Monday from complications of dementia at Stella Maris Hospice at age 86.

William A. Blankenship Jr., who served with the Army Corps of Engineers in the Pacific Theater during World War II, later became an Air Force reservist and salesman, died Monday at the age of 101.

J. Spencer Hammond, former longtime minister of music, organist and choir director at Douglas Memorial Community Church who also taught music in the city public schools for more than three decades, died ThursdayJAN24 at Howard County General Hospital from complications from a fall.

James A. Johns III, former director of administration and finance for information technologies at the Johns Hopkins University and hospital, died Sunday of cancer at his Columbia home. He was 71.

Paulette A. Finck, a homemaker who was active in her Roman Catholic church, died Friday from amyotropic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at Kline Hospice House in Mount Airy. The former longtime Timonium resident was 80.

Dr. Carol E. Beasley, a Towson psychiatrist who had been on the staff of Sheppard-Enoch Pratt Hospital, died Wednesday from cancer at Gilchrist Center Towson. The resident of the Chatham neighborhood of North Baltimore was 66.

Dr. Murray Kappelman was a devoted theatergoer and founding board member of Baltimore's Center Stage.

The Rev. Earl M. Johnson Jr., a Korean war veteran and founder of Grace Bible Church died Sunday of congestive heart failure at his Catonsville home.

Russell Baker, former Baltimore Sun reporter, New York Times reporter and columnist died Monday at the age of 93.

Doris E. Welsh, who was secretary to two city police commissioners and was an avid Orioles fan, died Friday at age 95.

Russell Baker, a Baltimore-raised, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, essayist and biographer who hosted the show “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS and had the longest-running column in the history of The New York Times, died at his Leesburg, Va., home Monday, his son said.

Mary Rita Pacy, whose Jewels Fargo sold women's apparel out of her former Ruxton home, died Friday from cancer at a son's home in Thomasville, Pa. The Spring Grove, Pa., resident was 87.

John F. McBride, founder of a Southwest Baltimore printing company who was active in several Irish organizations, died Tuesday from a heart attack.

John E. Cooper, a retired insurance man and Army veteran, died Sunday from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Ultimate Residential Care in Northeast Baltimore.

Patricia L. Young taught Sunday school at Churchville Presbyterian Church for 40 years.

Edward H. Latchford, a certified public accountant who rose through the ranks to become vice president of finance for CSX Transportation and later was a Fruit Growers Express official, died Sunday from complications of diabetes at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 71.

Lillian C. Watt, a pharmacist who pursued careers in China and New York City and later in life became an active centenarian, died Thursday from respiratory failure at her Towson home. She was 105.

Jim Margraff, the all-time winningest coach in Johns Hopkins football history,died Wednesday at age 58. “He was more Man of the Year than Coach of the Year,” Blue Jays men's lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala said. “He really was a very special man.”

George Kendrick, the “unofficial mayor” of Arbutus, died of natural causes on Dec. 22, according to his family. He was 96 and living at The Neighborhoods at St. Elizabeth Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, receiving hospice care from Gilchrist.

Louis R. Harper Jr., the Baltimore City Fire Department’s first African-American captain, whose landmark 1971 lawsuit forced the city to end discriminatory practices in the hiring and promotion of firefighters and police, died of symptoms related to dementia in hospice on Dec. 8 at age 89.

Mary Ann Warren, a homemaker who performed in local theater, died Sunday from complications of Alzheimer's disease and a stroke at Springwell Senior Living in Mount Washington.

Leroy Moore, a beloved figure known as the "Mayor of Fells Point," died Sunday morning at the age of 56 after a battle with lung cancer.

“He was the host. I would tease him: ‘You’re an actor now. You have your own stage,’” John Lea's wife, Claire, said with a laugh. “… He was really a Renaissance man.”

Les Kinsolving, a retired WCBM-AM conservative talk radio personality and political gadfly who hosted the show “Uninhibited Radio” for 28 years, died of heart disease and dementia Dec. 4 at his home in Vienna, Va.

Priscilla L. Beirne, a retired Baltimore city public school educator who enjoyed reading, died Wednesday from respiratory failure at her North Homeland residence. She was 89.

Meta C. Cannady, a cosmotologist who had been a charter and lifetime member of Refuge Way of the Cross Church of Christ, died Saturday from complications of diabetes and heart failure, at her Penn-Lucy home. She was 90.

Egon E. Binkert, a German sausage maker whose various wursts found favor with those who venerate Teutonic cuisine, died Sunday from cancer at Kline Hospice House in Mount Airy. The longtime Rodgers Forge resident was 99.

Mary E. Rigdon, a former educator and librarian who oversaw the operation of her family's Harford County farm, died Saturday from a heart attack at her Jarrettsville home. She was 89.

Frances Jelenko Fitch, a psychotherapist who treated alcoholics and domestic abusers at a time when few others did, died Oct. 1 of kidney failure. A Tuscany-Canterbury resident, she was 83.

Martin L. Millspaugh Jr., who shaped the redevelopment of downtown Baltimore from the demolition of the old O’Neill’s department store through the Inner Harbor, died of cancer Tuesday at Roland Park Place.

Clarence F. Wroblewski, instrumental music instructor and former longtime chairperson of the music department at Patterson High School, died Saturday from heart failure at his Lutherville home. He was 95.

Harriet V. Cole, a retired printing estimator who was an active member of Loch Raven United Methodist Church for more than 60 years, died Thursday from a lung infection at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pa. The Hunt Valley resident was 90.

Dr. Robert Mahon was chief doctor at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson.

Raymond V. "Skip" Merkle, former president of a cemetery memorials company who was an active member of the Shrine, died Saturday from complications of dementia at Gilchrist Center in Columbia. The Granite resident was 85.

Lynn DeG. Lafferty, a retired businesswoman, who had been active in several organizations, died Nov. 11 from cancer at the Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson. She was 85.