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June 18, 2002
Donald D. Harris Sr., a retired Westinghouse Electric Corp. technician, died of cancer Thursday at St. Agnes HealthCare. The Severn resident was 69.
Born in Winchester, Va., and raised in Ellicott City, Mr. Harris graduated from the old Ellicott City High School.
He went to work for Westinghouse in Linthicum in 1951 and retired in 1994.
Mr. Harris enjoyed gardening and spending time with his grandchildren.
He was a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Glen Burnie.
Services were private.
Mr. Harris is survived by his wife of 45 years, the former Dorothy P. Odell; two sons, Donald D. Harris Jr. of Pasadena and Daniel W. Harris of Severn; and three grandchildren.
April 20, 2002
Lola M. Hazlett, a former caregiver and variety store owner, died Monday of heart failure at her Waverly home. She was 83.
Lola Martin was born and reared in Wayne County, N.C., and attended public schools there.
She moved to Baltimore in the 1950s and settled in Waverly, where she ran a variety store for many years in her home in the 2500 block of Greenmount Ave. She later worked as a caregiver until retiring about 10 years ago.
Mrs. Hazlett, whose husband died many years ago, enjoyed gardening and doing needlework.
No services will be held for Mrs. Hazlett, who donated her body to the Maryland State Anatomy Board.
She is survived by three brothers, Jack Martin and Hubert Martin, both of Goldsboro, N.C., and Milford Martin of Zubulon, N.C.; a sister, Margaret Gillespie of Wilmington, Del.; and many nephews and nieces.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 415 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21201.
January 2, 2002
HARTFORD, Conn. - Eileen Heckart, the lanky, gravel-voiced actress whose skill with comedy and drama won her an Oscar for Butterflies Are Free, two Emmys and a special Tony for career excellence, has died. She was 82.
Ms. Heckart, who had been battling cancer for three years, died Monday at her home in Norwalk, her son Mark Yankee said.
"She was one of the great ladies of stage, TV and movies," he said yesterday. "She was just as wonderful a mother, grandmother as an actress and an all-around wonderful woman."
Even in her early career, Ms. Heckart played character roles. She first drew attention on Broadway in 1953 as the love-starved Rosemary Sidney in Picnic. The next year she created the role of Mrs. Daigle in The Bad Seed, which she repeated in the 1956 film version, gaining an Academy Award nomination as a supporting actress.
Earlier in 1956, she had made her film debut in Miracle in the Rain, which starred Jane Wyman and Van Johnson. That year, she also appeared in Somebody Up There Likes Me with Paul Newman and Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe.
In 1969, she created the stage role of the domineering mother of a blind young man in Butterflies Are Free. She repeated it in the 1972 movie, which starred Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert. Variety commented: "Miss Heckart finally gets another role that enables her to display the versatility that has been evident for a long time in her stage roles." This time she won the supporting actress Oscar.
Other movies in which she appeared include Hot Spell (starring Shirley Booth and Anthony Quinn), Heller in Pink Tights (Sophia Loren, Mr. Quinn), My Six Loves (Debbie Reynolds, Cliff Robertson), Up the Down Staircase (Sandy Dennis), No Way to Treat a Lady (Rod Steiger), Zandy's Bride (Gene Hackman), Heartbreak Ridge (Clint Eastwood), Seize the Day (Robin Williams) and The First Wives Club (as Diane Keaton's mother).
Ms. Heckart created a memorable TV character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary Richards' Aunt Flo, a high-powered, globe-trotting reporter. Mary was awed by her aunt's achievements, and her boss, Lou Grant (played by Ed Asner), renewed an old love affair with Flo.
In the 1979 miniseries Backstairs at the White House, Ms. Heckart offered a fresh take on Eleanor Roosevelt, presenting her as bright, intelligent and even a bit sexy. She had experience portraying FDR's first lady, having toured in 1976 with a one-woman show, Eleanor.
Because of her tall frame, sad-looking eyes and distinctive voice, Ms. Heckart throughout her career was often cast as eccentrics. It was all an act, she said in a 1989 interview: "I am not one bit an eccentric. I'm always on time. I know my lines. And I've been everything but eccentric for a whole lot of years."
She was awarded Emmys in 1967, for Save a Place for Me at Forest Lawn, and in 1994, for an episode of Love & War. In 2000, she won a special Tony for her lifetime of theater work.
"I kept telling her, 'Stop winning awards; we'll have to build more shelves,'" her son said.
October 29, 2001
George J. Helinski, a retired District Court judge and former Baltimore prosecutor, died of cancer Saturday while attending a judicial conference in Solomons. He was 73.
A chatty, well-liked man, Judge Helinski had a reputation as a bright lawyer, a tough prosecutor, an efficient administrator and a dedicated judge.
"He knew how to mesh the punishment or disposition of the case with the facts of the case," said Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Court of Appeals. He praised Judge Helinski's demeanor in and out of court, his breadth of knowledge and his commitment to the judiciary.
"You couldn't help but like George," Judge Bell said. "He was always a very gentle guy and willing to give of his time."
In private practice, his most celebrated case was the 1979 criminal defense -- with Joseph F. Murphy Jr., now chief judge of the Court of Special Appeals -- of Mary Rose Robaczynski, a Maryland General Hospital nurse charged with murder. She was accused of disconnecting the life support devices of comatose patients. Her trial concluded with a hung jury, and the state later dropped the charges.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Fells Point, Judge Helinski graduated from Mount St. Joseph High School in 1945 and served two years in the Coast Guard.
He graduated from the University of Baltimore and, in 1953, from its law school. He worked as a bailiff for Judge Joseph R. Byrnes, in Baltimore's old Supreme Bench, before entering private practice in 1954 with Edward B. Rybczynski, a friend from the Polish Students Association in the 1940s.
Mr. Rybczynski said his former partner was considered an expert in search-and-seizure matters and other intricacies of criminal law.
Their partnership took a decade-long hiatus when Judge Helinski joined the city prosecutor's office in 1961. He was an assistant state's attorney until 1964, when Baltimore State's Attorney Charles E. Moylan Jr. named him deputy prosecutor.
When Mr. Moylan was elevated to the Court of Special Appeals, Judge Helinski was passed over for the post as interim state's attorney in 1970 and made an unsuccessful run for the job before returning to private practice.
He was appointed to the District Court bench in 1982 by then-Gov. Harry R. Hughes. Though several years from mandatory retirement when he chose to step down in 1994 to spend more time with his family, he believed that judges should not be forced to automatically retire at their 70th birthday.
Asked to don robes again, the Parkville resident returned in retirement to hear cases wherever the District Court was short a judge. He heard cases until last month.
"He was a stalwart in coming back and working, and being very helpful to the court," said James N. Vaughan, chief judge of Maryland's District Court system.
He was on many committees and study groups, advising the judiciary on traffic and criminal issues and serving as chairman of the Maryland State Bar Association's section on senior lawyers.
He was an accomplished polka dancer, enjoyed camping on Assateague Island and fishing, and jogged daily until a year ago.
A daughter, Martha Powers of Perry Hall, said her parents raised their family in Polish community traditions. "His Polish heritage was important to pass on," she said.
His son, Michael Helinski of Essex, said his father devoted time to such diverse activities as serving as an adult literacy tutor and working on the St. Stanislaus Preservation Society, which sought unsuccessfully last year to keep the Roman Catholic church on Ann Street open.
He had been an active parishioner since the 1960s at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Overlea, where a Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
His wife of 42 years, the former Marie Catherine Idzik, died in 1996. This spring, he wed Carol Stranovski.
In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Judge Helinski is survived by two other daughters, Barbara Graves of Frederick and Lois Stickles of Perry Hall; three brothers, Robert Helinski of Glen Burnie, Jerome Helinski of North Port, Fla., and Donald Helinski of La Jolla, Calif.; a sister, Bernadette Starrs of Reisterstown; two stepsons, Michael Stranovski of White Marsh and John Stranovski of Westminster; a stepdaughter, Brina Kulis of Baltimore; and 16 grandchildren.
May 1, 2002
Mary Joel Hoffenberg, a former interior decorator and Los Angeles resident, died of cancer yesterday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 87.
Mrs. Hoffenberg, who had lived at the Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville since 1997, was born Mary Joel Kramer in Baltimore. She was raised in Winchester, Va., and after graduating from high school in 1933 worked in Washington for the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 1939, she married Jack Hoffenberg, a Baltimore advertising executive and novelist. Until moving to Los Angeles in the 1950s, Mrs. Hoffenberg worked as an interior decorator. Her husband, author of A Thunder at Dawn and Sow Not in Anger, died in 1977.
Graveside services for Mrs. Hoffenberg will be held at 1 p.m. today at King David Memorial Garden, 7482 Lee Highway, Falls Church, Va.
She is survived by a sister, Mildred K. Shapiro of Baltimore; her companion, Dr. Louis Shuman of Catonsville; and many nephews and nieces.
July 31, 2002
Richard Stephen Hoffer, a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. foreman, died of colon cancer Saturday at his home in Edgemere. He was 64 and had previously lived in Edgewood.
He retired last year after 41 years at the Sparrows Point plant, where he was a general foreman in the blast furnace division.
Born in Bethlehem, Pa., he earned a degree in mining engineering from Lehigh University. As a young man, he served in the Marine Corps.
He coached baseball for the Harford County recreation department and was a member of the Edgewood High School Boosters Club. He also played golf.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at McComas Funeral Home, 1317 Cokesbury Road, Abingdon.
Mr. Hoffer is survived by his wife of 40 years, the former Lois Grayshan; four sons, R. Stephen Hoffer Jr. of Columbus, Ga., Geoffrey A. Hoffer of Cambridge, N.Y., Timothy J. Hoffer of Round Hill, Va., and Michael B. Hoffer of Denver; his mother, Julia Elizabeth Baracskay Hoffer, and a sister, Jeanne F. Schoenberger, both of Allentown, Pa.; and six grandchildren. A son, Matthew Paul Hoffer, died in 1989.
April 25, 2002
Janet White Hoyt, a poet whose memorable recitations of her work in Annapolis coffeehouses endeared her to audiences, died of lung disease April 18 at the Sunrise assisted-living community there. She was 88.
The former Hillsmere Shores resident, whose home overlooked the South River, was born Janet White in Appleton, Wis., the fourth of five children. She was raised in a cultivated family, and her early memories were of the book-filled home in Farmington, Mich., where she spent her youth.
"We had so many books that we never used a library," she said last year in a filmed interview with Max Ochs, a poet, musician and teacher. He is host of the monthly 333 Coffeehouse at Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, where Mrs. Hoyt was poet laureate. She also did readings at the Red Door in Arnold.
Her powers of observation of nature and the human condition were honed early, as her parents insisted that their children share at evening gatherings what they had seen and experienced during the day.
"I became interested in poetry as soon as I could read," she said in the interview. She composed and memorized poetry by the time she had entered kindergarten.
After graduating from high school, she attended Lawrence University in Appleton and studied English literature and speech. To reward herself after long hours of studying, she would select a poem from an anthology and memorize it.
Her father's death in 1933 profoundly moved her, and in her poem "Continuity 1," she wrote:
I stand in the old cemetery
Here is my father buried
And my father's father
And the grandmother I am said to resemble
And whom I never knew.
Here are the old names
On the old tombstones.
In 1938, she married Edgar D. Hoyt, a family friend who became a naval architect. After he worked in Bremerton, Wash., and Bethesda, the couple settled in Annapolis in 1972. Mr. Hoyt died in 1999.
Mrs. Hoyt's poetic influences were Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, and her work reflected a deep religious faith. Her poems were composed in an odd way.
"Like John Milton, who was blind, she'd write poems in her head and then memorize them before committing them to paper," Mr. Ochs said. "When she was giving a reading at the coffeehouse, she never rattled papers because her whole repertoire was in her head. She knew them by heart.
"And because her poems were short, she'd tell her audience to save their applause until the end when you can 'really let me have it,'" Mr. Ochs said.
Mrs. Hoyt preferred long, flowing, flowery purple caftans. Her extravagant wide-brimmed millinery was equally as whimsical and always adorned with fresh flowers worn in the hat or carefully tucked into her steel-gray hair.
"She was lovingly called 'the old lady with flowers.' She was kind of a character -- eccentric and flamboyant -- and full of flair," Mr. Ochs said.
A son, David K. Hoyt of Glen Burnie, recalled his mother's numerous acquaintances: "She stopped to smell every flower. She patted every dog and admired every baby. That's her in a nutshell."
She was an avid tennis player -- on the courts until she was 83 -- and celebrated her 80th birthday with a tennis party at the indoor Big Vanilla tennis and fitness club in Arnold.
Her life was not without its struggles. She battled alcoholism for years until a relative suggested that she attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
"She was a stalwart of the 12-step program and a good friend of Bill W., the founder of AA. And she was a mentor to the young ones and wanted to help them out," Mr. Ochs said.
At her death last week, Mrs. Hoyt had marked 32 years of sobriety.
She was a member of South River Bible Church, 744 W. Central Ave. in Davidsonville, where a memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. May 11. Burial will be in the family plot in Appleton that she wrote about in "Continuity 1," which is included in her book Legacy:
Yet
My children may come here,
Sometime,
When I am one with my father,
And my father's father,
And the grandmother I am said to resemble
And whom I never knew-
Here.
In the book's title poem, "Legacy," she asks,
What can I leave to you
Who are so dear to me?
A rock,
And a rhyme,
And a memory.
Mrs. Hoyt is also survived by another son, Peter B. Hoyt of Savannah, Ga.; a daughter, Katherine H. Zlotnicki of Erie, Pa.; a brother, Ralph K. White of Cockeysville; a sister, Hester Maury of Seattle; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
August 23, 2002
C. William Humbert, a retired First National Bank vice president whose career spanned nearly seven decades, died from complications of dementia Sunday at Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster. He was 94 and formerly lived in Reisterstown.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Humbert dropped out of school at age 15 to help support his family. He later earned his GED through evening school.
He began working as a runner for First National in 1922, and was promoted through the ranks -- retiring as a vice president in 1967.
He also was part-time treasurer of the old Boulevard Savings & Loan Association in Southwest Baltimore in the 1950s. He was a director of Sharpsburg Bank of Washington County for 10 years, and a consultant and portfolio manager for the Queenstown Bank in Queenstown from 1970 to 1989, responsible for managing $22 million in bonds.
After moving to Carroll Lutheran Village in 1988, he served on the retirement community's finance committee for many years. A memorial service was held there Wednesday.
He was an avid coin collector and gardener, a member of the Westminster Kiwanis Club and Gideons of Carroll County and a charter member of Grace Bible Church of North Carroll.
In 1935, he married Kathryn Pfeffer, who died in 1998.
He is survived by a son, W. David Humbert of Westminster; a daughter, Donna Brookes of Maple Grove, Minn.; four grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.
July 9, 2001
Patricia A. Hurley, an indefatigable volunteer whose activism ranged from den mother to local organizer for the White House Conference on Families, died of breast cancer Friday at her Eldersburg home. She was 71.
Mrs. Hurley, a mother of six boys, devoted her efforts to children's causes.
She helped found the Baltimore Diocese of St. Joseph's Catholic Church Right to Life Committee in 1968, started a local group for the White House Conference on Families during the Carter administration, collected donations and school supplies for orphanages in South Vietnam and volunteered for the Little People's Research Fund.
She also spent time as a Cub Scout den mother, Sunday school teacher, PTA president, substitute teacher and member of the Carroll County Heart Association board.
In 1972, family members said, the Freedom District Optimist club gave her its "Friend of the Boy" award for outstanding contributions to the community.
She also won two Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association awards for her opinion pieces, which were published in The Sun, The News American, The Sykesville Herald and The Carroll County Times.
She recalled a visit to the bedside of her dying, comatose father in a piece she wrote for The Sun in 1990. He surprised everyone by opening his eyes and slowly raising his hand.
"There are those who support euthanasia, but I never will," Mrs. Hurley wrote. "... For me, my father's death with dignity was his opportunity to be helped to stay alive until he could recognize and bless his children before letting go."
Patricia O'Neill was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Brookline High School in the mid-1940s. About 1950, after earning an associate's degree from a community college in the area, she married John Paul Hurley. He died in 1989.
The Hurleys moved to Lochearn in 1962 and to Eldersburg in 1967.
John Hurley, a son who lives in Carmichael, Calif., said the breadth and depth of her activism - which filled a cedar chest in her house with newspaper clippings - amazes him, especially because she was also raising a large family.
"I remember when we lived in Lochearn: She went to the orphanage for several years in a row and brought back several kids to have Thanksgiving dinner with us," he said. "She said, 'What's a couple more?'"
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Holy Family Catholic Church, 9535 Liberty Road in Randallstown.
In addition to her son John, Mrs. Hurley is survived by five children, Michael and Peter Hurley of Eldersburg, Thomas Hurley of Mount Airy, Christopher Hurley of Westminster and James Hurley of Kennesaw, Ga.; a brother, James D. O'Neill of Laconia, N.H.; a sister, Mary Victor, also of Laconia; and 15 grandchildren.
June 7, 2002
Leon "Buck Shorty" Jackson, a retired cab and truck driver who was active in the Elks club for more than half a century, died of a heart attack Saturday at his home in Baltimore's Edmondson Village neighborhood. He was 81.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Jackson was a graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. He retired about 15 years ago.
At his death, he was public relations director for the Elks' Spirit of Chesapeake Lodge No. 1107 on Frederick Avenue, said his niece, Valerie Allen.
"He loved the Elks," Mrs. Allen said. "He joined it as a very young man and was there for 50-plus years. He was considered a Golden Elk because he had given so much service."
Mr. Jackson held various offices in Chesapeake Lodge, and was president of the Tri-State Association of Elks of Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia in the mid-1970s, Mrs. Allen said.
Charles "Smoky" Jones, a friend and fellow Elk, said Mr. Jackson was an expert on the Elks and enjoyed the camaraderie of the fraternal organization.
"The Elks was his life, period," Mr. Jones said. "Everybody knew him, even the head man in the Elks. We've got Elks all over the world, you mention the name Buck Shorty and they know him."
Mrs. Allen said her uncle was an avid reader. "He would get two or three newspapers and read them every day," she said. "His favorite author was Shakespeare."
A wake is set for 11 a.m. today and the service at noon at Estep Brothers Funeral Home, 1300 Eutaw Place.
Mr. Jackson is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
June 11, 2002
Jeffrey S. Kemp, who worked in his family's parade balloon business, died Sunday of a heart attack at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. The Ocean City resident was 40.
Mr. Kemp, a former resident of Severna Park, was a balloon technician for Kemp Balloons in Selbyville, Del. The business was formerly located in Glen Burnie.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton, he attended city public schools.
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Ullrich Funeral Home in Berlin.
Mr. Kemp is survived by his fiancee, Melody Burrs; a son, Michael Shawn Kemp of Ocean City; his father, Robert D. Kemp of Ocean City; a brother, Bobby Kemp of Annapolis; and a sister, Darlene Franklin of Lewes, Del.
