Robert H. Stropp Sr., 80, career Air Force officerRobert...

Robert H. Stropp Sr., 80, career Air Force officer

Robert H. Stropp Sr., a career Air Force officer and veteran of three wars, died Jan. 22 of Alzheimer's disease at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 80.

Mr. Stropp was captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams at Western Maryland College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1940. After graduation, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the outset of World War II.

A navigator aboard B-17 bombers, he was assigned to the 8th Air Forces' "Bloody 100th" Bomber Group. The name came from the high number of casualties the unit suffered.

A veteran of 25 missions, his last mission was aboard Rosies' Riveters, which was hit by enemy fire. Mr. Stropp and seven other crewmen parachuted behind enemy lines, where they were listed as missing until they were released by the Russian Army.

Discharged in 1945, he returned to Baltimore and married Betty Brown, who died in 1996. He operated a sporting goods store in the city until 1950, when he re-enlisted in the Air Force.

The native of Rome, N.Y., served in the wars in Korea and Vietnam and commanded the Air Force Computer Flight Training Center in Suitland. He retired as a colonel in 1970 and moved to Clearwater, Fla.

Because of his athletic achievements at Western Maryland College, he was inducted into the college's Sports Hall of Fame in the mid-1980s.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. May 9 at the college chapel in Westminster.

He is survived by three sons, Robert H. Stropp Jr. of Vienna, Va., William Stropp of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Dick Stropp of West Palm Beach, Fla.; a sister, Betty Jackson of Utica, N.Y.; and 11 grandchildren.

Maurice Bassan, 83, Baltimore attorney

Maurice Bassan, a retired Baltimore attorney who maintained a general legal practice for nearly 50 years, died Jan. 31 of cerebral thrombosis at Forest Haven Nursing Home. The Pikesville resident was 83.

Mr. Bassan, whose office was in the Court Square Building in downtown Baltimore, began his legal career in 1946 with Rome and Rome. He established his practice in 1950.

Born in Jerusalem, he immigrated to East Baltimore with his parents in 1919.

He graduated from City College and earned a bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University, a law degree from the University of Baltimore and graduate law degrees from the George Washington University School of Law.

He served in the Army with the 81st Infantry Division and the Inspector General Department during World War II.

Mr. Bassan had been an instructor in criminal law at the old Eastern College of Law, now a part of the University of Baltimore.

He was a member of the Baltimore County Democratic State Central Committee for eight years, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Maryland and Baltimore City bar associations.

He also was a member of the Baltimore Jewish Council, Jewish War Veterans, Menorah Lodge of B'nai B'rith, and Beth Tfiloh and B'nai Israel congregations.

Services were held Feb. 1.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, the former Margaret Hollander; a son, Dr. Michael Bassan of Pikesville; two daughters, Dr. Laurie Bassan of Silver Spring and Joanne Klapholz of Hollywood, Fla.; two sisters, Rose Miller of Pikesville and Lillian Speigel of Altamonte Springs, Fla.; and eight grandchildren.

Willard W. Wells, 73, YMCA executive

Willard Webster Wells, retired Baltimore-area YMCA executive, died of a heart attack Sunday at his apartment at Elkridge Estates. He was 73.

Mr. Wells began his career with the YMCA in Ohio in 1952 and worked in New York before he directed branches at Franklin and Cathedral streets in Baltimore and in Catonsville. He retired in 1986.

After he retired, he was executive director of Activity in Maturity, a senior citizens program in the Homewood area sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University until the early 1990s.

Born in Logan, Ohio, Mr. Wells enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War II and served as a flight engineer aboard B-24 Liberator bombers in the Galapagos Islands.

After the war, he earned a bachelor's degree from Hillsdale College in Michigan in 1950. He did graduate work at Oberlin College and George Williams College in Chicago.

He was active in the Senior Olympics and was a member of the Civitan Club and the Community Breakfast Program at Hopkins.

He was a member of Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 St. Paul St., where a memorial service will be held in the chapel at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, the former Dorothy Keller; two sons, Lewis A. Wells of New Orleans and Corliss K. Wells of Scituate, Mass.; a daughter, Sarah W. Bowen of St. Louis; a sister, Constance W. Smith of Spruce, Mich.; and six grandchildren.

Inez W. Bryant, 91, homemaker

Inez W. Bryant, a homemaker and 30-year Baltimore resident, died Jan. 30 of cancer at Pickersgill Retirement Home in Towson. She was 91.