2003: The Year in Review
Farewells
Bob Koch ~ 1942-2003
Bob Koch of Galesville was soaring over the sparkling snow covered peaks of Park City, Utah, January 16. Then the little Yak two-seater plunged out of the sky. Bob — together with his friend Ed Strauchen, the pilot, died at 11:57am in the snow-covered hills.
— Deborah Bell • No. 5, Jan. 30
Owen Carr IV ~ 1979-2003
“A good boy — most of the time,” says his mother, Peggy Carr, as she endures the condolences of friends come for her 24-year-old only son’s funeral to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in North Beach. She is not yet out of the habit of thinking of Owen as an ordinary kid — though chance has made him that most extraordinary of boys, the son who died young.
— Sandra Martin, Sonia Linebaugh and Nancy Kelly • No. 9, Feb. 27
George Daly ~ May 13, 1923–February 18, 2003
“The brawn behind the brains,” George said of his role in the partnership with wife Mavis to preserve local history through the Captain Salem Avery House Museum in Shady Side. But, of course, that wasn’t quite true. George possessed in himself the interests, energies and skills of four or five dozen people.
—Sandra Martin and M.L. Faunce • No. 9, Feb. 27
Millie Moore of Billy Jac’s ~ 1924-2003
Mildred Muriel Moore’s ashes would be already mingling with the Bay had not Friday, May 16 been so hard a day. Amid wind, rain and whipping seas, Millie’s last voyage was postponed.
There’s harsh justice in that fate, for hard is a word people use when they talk about the proprietress of Billy Jac’s tavern in Deale.
“She was a hard woman,” says her son, Jack Moore. “Hard and strong. Those were the times she came from.”
— Sandra Martin • No. 21, May 22
Pat Bramhall ~ 1939–2003
In the days when organic was still a fringe idea, Pat was a pioneer. In transforming her 15-acre Lothian farm into a new Eden, she was not only working from the ground up, she was making a difference globally by acting locally. A decade later, organic food has become a $7 billion business with state and federal certifications because of field workers like Pat. More important to her, thousands of people would reap the benefits of following nature’s way.
Yet we’ve learned this week that even a woman of Pat’s rich energy and ageless beauty cannot last forever. On August 2, 2003, cancer returned Pat Bramhall to Earth.
—Sandra Martin • No. 32, Aug. 7
Howard Shenton ~ 1919–2003 & Charlie Walton ~ 1916–2003
The 21st century will not give us men of the mold and mettle of the generation we are fast losing. Even as the leaves fall, two more have left us: Howard Shenton of Shady Side and Charlie Walton of Fairhaven.
Both lived long years, into their 80s, as if time were making up to them in late years for the early hardships. Growing up in the Depression, both knew privation. But the lives they made for themselves were rich and abundant.
Both were sons of cities — Baltimore for Shenton, Washington for Walton — who settled in Chesapeake Country, which seasoned them with a special salty savor. On the Bay, each earned the title captain. On its shores, both took roots and grew into elders of their communities — so gradually they probably did not themselves notice, though family and friends did.
— Sandra Martin and Barclay Walsh • No. 45, Nov. 6
Sue Sheehan ~ 1933–2003
Sue Sheehan was a registered obstetrics nurse, legislative aide on Capitol Hill and in Annapolis before retiring two years ago, Naval Academy hostess to many plebes, prop mistress and ‘Grammy’ to her grandchildren and to the many children of The Talent Machine.
The celebration of her way-too-short life, held at the United States Naval Academy Chapel November 25, was attended by all of her biological family and many of her adopted family, be it the actors and actresses from the Talent Machine, elected officials, lobbyists or co-workers — plus many who simply called her their friend.
— Barbi Shields • Dock No. 49, Dec. 4
to the top
