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John Matthew Ward Sr.
SALISBURY -- John Matthew Ward Sr., 73 of Salisbury died Monday, March 21, 2005, at Peninsula Regional Medical Center.
Born in Prospect Park, Pa., he was the son of the late Hugh P. and Marion B. Porters Ward.
He was a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Korean conflict. He was a member of Christ United Methodist Church. He was the former owner of Aqua Marine Sports Center and Custom Crafted Tackle in Salisbury. He was an avid lover of sports, especially hunting and fishing.
He is survived by his wife, Frances Wainwright Ward; a daughter, Donna M. Billic of Newark, Del.; a son, John M. Ward Jr. of Marmaduke, Ark.; a stepson, Gary T. Tyndall of Mardela Springs; grandchildren, Michael Billic, Jenna Billic and Bryan Billic, all of Newark, Justin Ward of Marmaduke and B.J. Tyndall of Snow Hill; stepgrandchild, Sarah Tyndall of Philadelphia; great-grandchildren, Tyler Riley of Newark and Alex Tyndall of Snow Hill; and a half sister, Dorothy Hollaran of Pennsylvanaia.
Following cremation, a private memorial service will be held at a later date.
Contributions may be made in his memory to Christ United Methodist Church, Building Fund, 211 Phillip Morris Drive, Salisbury, Md. 21804.
Arrangements are being handled by Holloway Funeral Home, 501 Snow Hill Road in Salisbury.
Joseph Edward Hopwood
QUANTICO -- Joseph Edward Hopwood, 79, of Quantico died Thursday, March 31, 2005, at Coastal Hospice at the Lake in Salisbury.
Born in Wheeling, W.Va., he was the son of the late Leslie J. and Agnes May Hopwood.
Mr. Hopwood was a U.S. Navy and U.S. Army veteran. Memberships included the Maryland Historical Trust, the Wicomico County Historical Trust and Friends of the Nanticoke.
He is survived by his wife, Alys Joy Hopwood; a son, Jonathan Leigh Hopwood of San Francisco; a daughter, Shelly Carson Cole of Princess Anne; three grandchildren; and six nieces and nephews.
An open house will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at 21715 Wetipquin Road in Quantico.
Arrangements are in the care of Holloway Funeral Home, 501 Snow Hill Road in Salisbury.
Franklin Parsons Perdue
SALISBURY -- Franklin "Frank" Parsons Perdue, the Maryland farmer who revolutionized the American poultry industry with the introduction of his brand-name chickens, transforming a backyard egg business into one of the nation's largest food companies, died Thursday night, March 31, 2005, after a brief illness. He was 84.
At the time of his death, Perdue was chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of Perdue Farms Inc., headquartered in Salisbury.
The first hands-on chief executive officer to become famous as a company advertising spokesperson, he appeared in approximately 200 television commercials, in addition to radio and print ads, between 1971 and 1994, until his son, James "Jim" Perdue, chairman of the board of Perdue Farms, took over the role. Frank Perdue's stubborn commitment to product quality led to the creation of one of modern advertising's most memorable lines, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken."
Frank Perdue attributed his success to determination, hard work, honest dealings, innovative marketing and, perhaps most importantly, an obsession with quality.
Franklin Parsons Perdue was born in 1920 at home -- a modest farmhouse -- just outside of Salisbury, the central town on Maryland's Eastern Shore. His destiny was determined early when, in that same year, his father, Arthur Perdue, bought 23 Leghorn pullets for $5 and entered the table-egg business. An only child, Frank's first venture in the poultry business came at the age of 10 when he was given responsibility for 50 laying hens. Under his care they produced well, earning him $10 to $20 per month.
Following graduation from high school, he attended Salisbury State Teachers College (now Salisbury University) for two years, where he was able to test his dream of a career in baseball while playing for the school. After "collecting more splinters than RBIs sitting out innings on the dugout bench, " he decided, "the egg business wasn't as bad as I thought." However, he never lost his passion for baseball.
Later in life, he supported minor league baseball on the Eastern Shore and helped build in his hometown a minor-league baseball stadium, named for his father. Other beneficiaries of his philanthropy included the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University, which he endowed in 1986.
He also remained an active member of his community, providing donations or lending his name to fund-raising campaigns for a number of favorite charities. In 2000, he and his wife, Mitzi Ayala Perdue, donated $4 million to the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore for the Perdue-Kresge Challenge.
In recognition of his contributions to his hometown and to the poultry industry, he received Delmarva's Distinguished Citizen Award from the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. in 1965; was the recipient of the Salisbury Award in 1993; and, in December 1999, was named "Shoreman of the Century" by The Daily Times, his hometown newspaper.
His own business education was obtained on the job. In 1939, when Frank left college to go back into the family business, the company had just three employees, including Frank and his father. Inspired by his father's incessant drive for quality, Frank became obsessed with expanding his knowledge of the poultry business and finding new ways to improve quality and efficiency.
The operation grew and eventually expanded from selling table eggs to hatching and growing broiler chickens. By 1948, when Frank took over leadership of the company, Arthur W. Perdue & Son had 40 employees and was one of the largest chicken growers on the Delmarva Peninsula.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Frank pioneered special crossbreeding programs to develop better quality birds -- which eventually led to the development of the company's proprietary breed -- expanded the company's grain merchandising and soybean oil-refining operations, and, in 1968, purchased the company's first poultry processing plant.
With that purchase came Frank's decision to market his own brand of chicken, which initiated the company's first advertising campaign. Frank tackled the campaign much like he did any other business initiative -- he relentlessly researched marketing strategies and advertising agencies until he was satisfied he had found the best.
The campaign began in New York on radio, but television commercials and subway poster ads soon followed; and the Perdue name -- and Frank Perdue's distinctive voice and face -- gained broad recognition, eventually making the PERDUE® brand a household name and Frank Perdue a celebrity.
Today, Perdue employs approximately 20, 000 associates in facilities across 15 states and produces more than 50 million pounds of fresh and further-processed chicken and turkey products each week. Perdue's retail products are available primarily east of the Mississippi River, and food-service products are provided to food-service distributors and chain accounts across the country. The company also provides poultry products to customers in more than 40 countries and distributes agricultural products in North America and to more than 25 countries.
Though Jim Perdue has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of his family's firm since 1991, Frank Perdue still came into the office until shortly before his death. He also could be expected to spot-check a plant, have lunch in one of the company cafeterias with production workers, visit a poultry farm to discuss poultry management with one of the company's contract producers or visit a supermarket to assure consumers that unwavering quality standards were still being met.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son and three daughters, Jim and his wife, Jan, of Salisbury, Sandra Spedden of Cambridge, Anne Oliviero and her husband, Vincent Oliviero, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and Beverly Jennings and her husband, Ed, of Midlothian, Va; two stepsons, Jose Ayala and his wife, Erica, of Dallas and Carlos Ayala and his wife, Gea, of Granite Bay, Calif.; 12 grandchildren, Steven Spedden, Susan Eliason, Chris Oliviero, Jason Oliviero, Katie Oliviero, Michael Oliviero, Taryn Lloyd, Travis Nida, Whitney Nida, Ryan Perdue, Allison Perdue and Chris Perdue; and four great-grandchildren, Connor Eliason, Sean Eliason, Madeline Lloyd and Hanna Lloyd.
A viewing will be held Tuesday from 5 to 9 p.m. at Emmanuel Wesleyan Church, 142 Shamrock Drive in Salisbury. A viewing will also be held Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m. at the church, followed by a funeral service at 4 p.m. Interment will be private.
The Perdue family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in memory of Frank Perdue to your local food bank or the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, PO Box 152, Salisbury, Md. 21803-0152.
Virginia M. Fry
OCEAN PINES -- Virginia M. "Chickie" Fry, 73, of Ocean Pines, and formerly of Long Island, N.Y., died Friday, April 1, 2005, at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin.
She was born in Middle Village, N.Y., to the late James and Marion Schroeder Davey.
She was a member of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Ocean Pines and volunteered at Children's House by the Sea in Ocean City and the Berlin Nursing Home in Berlin.
She is survived by her husband, James Fry; sons, James Fry and Michael Fry; daughters, Patricia Kelly, Jean Gastman, Kathleen Cariello and Ann Shattuck; brothers, Edward, James, William and Kenneth Davey; sister, Rosemany Long; sister-in-law, Sister Jean Albert Fry, O.P.; and 14 grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church on Race Track Road in Ocean Pines. The Rev. Father Edward Fahey will officiate. Friends may call today from 3 to 5 p.m. at Hastings Funeral Home at 19 S. Main St. in Selbyville.
Donations may be made to Children's House by the Sea, 13 66th St., Ocean City, Md. 21842.
James Hastings Mills
MARDELA SPRINGS -- James Hastings "Jim" Mills, 60, of Mardela Springs died at his home Friday, April 1, 2005.
Born Feb. 26, 1945, in Salisbury, he was a son of Jean K. Dennis and the late Pvt. Oland G. Mills, who died in action during World War II on March 21, 1945.
Jim loved hunting, fishing and NASCAR. He was a member of American Legion Post 237, and Hebron and the Delmar VFW Post 8276. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1987 as a master sergeant after 20 years of service. He proudly served his country in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. After retirement, Jim worked at Dover Air Force Base for Lockheed and most recently at Tyndall's in Salisbury.
He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Darlene Mills; her children, Brandi and Scott Smith, Holli and Danny Adkins and Brian and Tracy Hammen; and her seven grandchildren. He is also survived by three sons and their wives, James D. and Kay Mills of Little Rock, Ark., Duane and Martha Mills of Abilene, Texas, and Tom and Sue Mills of Waynesboro, Pa.; seven grandchildren; his mother, Jean K. Dennis of Hebron; a brother and his wife, Oland H. and Mary Ann Mills of Salisbury; two sisters, Rebecca Weiss and P. Dale Twilley, both of Hebron; and many nieces and nephews. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by a stepfather, David S. Dennis, in 1997.
A visitation for family and friends will be held Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Short Funeral Home at 13 E. Grove St. in Delmar. A funeral service will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Nelson's Memorial United Methodist Church in Hebron. The Rev. James Riley will officiate. Following the service, interment with military honors will be held in Hebron Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to Maryland Food Bank Inc., 28500 Owens Branch Road, Salisbury, Md. 21803.
Robert A. Habicht
OCEAN PINES -- Robert Adolph Habicht, 79, of Ocean Pines died Friday, April 1, 2005, at Salisbury Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Born in Baltimore, he was the son of the late Frederick Habicht and Minnie Fischer Habicht.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Ruth Helen Paxton Habicht.
Also surviving is a son, Gary William Habicht, and his wife, Patricia, of Pasadena, Md., and a daughter, Joan Carolyn Harbaugh, and her husband, Doug, of Ocean Pines. There are five grandchildren, Geoff Habicht, Justin Habicht and his wife, Jennifer, Sarah Habicht, Matthew Harbaugh and Talbot Harbaugh.
Mr. Habicht had been the owner and operator of the Printing Specialist printing company in Baltimore. He was a member of the Community Church at Ocean Pines, the Environmental Control Committee in Ocean Pines, the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, a charter member of the Ocean Pines Kiwanis, and was instrumental in the starting of the Ocean Pines Boat Club and was past commodore of the Bodkin Yacht Club in Pasadena. He was a World War II Navy veteran, having served in the battle of Iwo Jima in the South Pacific.
A graveside memorial service will be announced at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 213 W. Main St., No. 205, Salisbury, Md. 21801.
Arrangements are by Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin.
