Catherine M. Harrison, 76, Catholic High valedictorian
Catherine M. Harrison, who was valedictorian of Catholic High School's first graduating class in 1943 and received its first diploma, died Wednesday of cancer at her daughter's home in Columbia. She was 76 and lived in White Marsh.
Born Catherine Behr on Jan. 22, 1925, in Baltimore, she also left an indelible mark as editor of the school's yearbook, which she named The Troubadour, the name it bears today.
Later she attended Strayer Business College and was employed during the mid-1940s as a secretary at Claymore Sieck, a wholesale florist in Baltimore. She was active in the Woodholme Senior Citizens Club and was fond of music, dancing and travel.
A resident of Belair-Edison for 42 years, she moved to White Marsh in 1993.
Her husband of 42 years, Thomas M. Harrison, died in 1987.
A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 11 a.m. today at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 8420 Belair Road, Fullerton. Interment will follow at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery.
Survivors include two sons, Tom Harrison of Baltimore and Bruce Harrison of Pikesville; a daughter, Colleen Roach of Columbia; two granddaughters; and special friend Robert Pierce.
Mark Edward Dull, 35, businessman, outdoorsman
Mark Edward Dull, owner of an Allstate Insurance Agency office at the Inner Harbor, died of cancer Thursday at his home in Ellicott City. He was 35.
Born in Washington, he grew up in Beltsville and graduated in 1983 from High Point High School. In 1987, he earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland and immediately went to work in the insurance field.
He was employed at a State Farm Insurance agency in Highland before opening his office in Baltimore several years ago.
An avid outdoorsman who loved to bicycle and play golf, he also belonged to Safari Club International, an organization for hunters, and he frequently traveled to a family farm in Somerset County, Pa., to pursue those hobbies.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. today at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 4795 Ilchester Road. Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton.
Survivors include his wife, Laura Almalel Dull, and two stepsons, Christopher Bond and Brandon Bond, all of Ellicott City; his parents, Rex Edward Dull and Gwen Dull of Highland; and a sister, Melissa Dull of Highland.
Donations may be made to the Hospice of Howard County, 5537 Twin Knolls Road, Columbia 21045.
Henry O. Shor, 81, insurance manager, broker
Henry O. Shor, an insurance broker and former Prudential Insurance Co. manager, died Tuesday of diabetes at Stella Maris Hospice at Mercy Medical Center. He was 81 and lived in Pikesville.
In the 1940s, he went to work for Prudential Insurance Co., eventually becoming manager of the company's Chesapeake Agency. In the mid-1960s, Mr. Shor founded Henry O. Shor CLU, an insurance brokerage. He served on the board of the Chartered Life Underwriters for many years.
He was a member of Chizuk Amuno Congregation and a former president of the synagogue's Men's Club. He also had served as vice president of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
He had been president of the Baltimore region of the Jewish National Fund and former president of the Seaboard Region of the Conservative Men's Clubs.
Born and raised in Forest Park, he was a 1938 graduate of City College. During World War II, he joined the Army and served for the duration of the war at Aberdeen Proving Ground. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of sergeant.
Services were held Thursday.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, the former Shirley Levy; a son, Richard J. L. Shor of Sykesville; a daughter, Leslie Voltmer of Basalt, Colo.; a brother, Lester Shor of Boulder, Colo.; a granddaughter; and a great-grandson.
Elsewhere
Arlene Eisenberg, 66, who wrote the best-selling book "What to Expect When You're Expecting," died Thursday in New York. Ms. Eisenberg's book, the first of a series co-written with her daughters, sold 9.6 million copies in 31 languages. A 1999 survey showed that 93 percent of expectant or nursing mothers who had read pregnancy books had read Ms. Eisenberg's book. Using a question-and-answer format, the book provided commonsense answers to questions ranging from diet to delivery to postpartum depression.
Herbert A. Simon, 84, an American polymath who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1978 with a theory of decision-making and who helped pioneer the idea that computers can exhibit artificial intelligence that mirrors human thinking, died Friday in Pittsburgh from complications of a recent surgery. Mr. Simon was the Richard King Mellon University Professor of Computer Science and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Simon challenged the classical economic theory that economic behavior was essentially rational behavior in which decisions were made to secure the optimum result possible. He contended that in today's complex world, individuals cannot possibly process or even obtain all the information they need to make rational decisions.
