Martha S. Dernoga, 99, 'Baker Lady of Westport'Martha S...

Martha S. Dernoga, 99, 'Baker Lady of Westport'

Martha S. Dernoga, who was known as the "Baker Lady of Westport," died of heart failure Monday at Genesis Elder Care in Randallstown. She was 99.

She and her husband, John Dernoga, owned and operated Westport Bakery on Sidney Avenue from 1924 until it closed in the 1960s.

She married Mr. Dernoga in 1914. He died in 1974.

Mrs. Dernoga was especially proud that one of her customers from his childhood days was Al Kaline, the retired Detroit Tigers baseball player and Hall of Famer.

During the Depression, the Dernogas gave bread to neighbors who couldn't afford it.

The former Martha Stasiak was born in Kalisz, Poland, and came to the Fells Point-Canton area when she was 6 months old. She attended city schools.

One of her earliest memories was watching the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 from South Ann Street. In 1997, she and other eyewitnesses were honored at the Great Fire Ball at the Engineers Club.

She was a benefactor of her Westport community and donated an Annapolis Road house she owned to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore for use as a community outreach center. It was dedicated by Archbishop William D. Borders.

A Mass of Christian burial was offered yesterday. .

She is survived by a daughter, Stella Hazard of Sudbrook Park; two grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson; and many nieces and nephews.

Margaret I. Owens, a homemaker who was active in numerous social and patriotic organizations, died Monday of respiratory failure at Blakehurst Retirement Community. She was 85.

The former resident of the Murray Hill section of Baltimore County, who moved to the retirement community near Towson in 1995, enjoyed boating and playing bridge.

She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Maryland Historical Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Walters Art Gallery and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

She was a member of Woodbrook-Murray Hill Garden Club and was also a member of the Baltimore Country Club and the Gibson Island Club.

The former Margaret Ijams was born in Roanoke, Va., and grew up in Forest Park, where she graduated from Forest Park High School in 1930. She earned her bachelor's degree from the old Towson State Teachers College and taught first grade for several years.

Her 1938 marriage to Charles Joseph "Chuck" Owens, the former president of Owens Yacht Co., ended in divorce.

Services were held Feb. 6 at Henry W. Jenkins Funeral Home in Baltimore.

She is survived by two sons, Charles C. Owens of Glyndon and Glynn I. Owens of Roland Park; a daughter, Margaret O. Connor of Deer Harbor, Wash.; and eight grandchildren.