Deric Foard Davis, 23, Hereford High graduate Deric...

Deric Foard Davis, 23, Hereford High graduate

Deric Foard Davis, a Hereford High School graduate and former collegian, was shot to death July 13 in a quadruple homicide at a mobile home park near Hyde Park, Vt. He was 23 and lived in Belvidere, Vt.

Mr. Davis, who was born and raised in Phoenix, Baltimore County, played varsity lacrosse and soccer at Hereford High. He had attended Johnson State College in Vermont, where he studied environmental science.

An outdoorsman, he enjoyed collecting rock crystals, snowboarding and hiking. He also liked listening to music.

Mr. Davis was a member of Clynmarlia United Methodist Church in Phoenix, where services were held yesterday .

He is survived by his parents, Gregory N. Davis and Valerie P. Davis of Phoenix; a brother, Clay N. Davis of Phoenix; his paternal grandmother, Mary Katherine Davis of Timonium; his maternal grandfather, Richard Foard Price, and step-maternal grandmother, Mickey Price, both of Phoenix; an uncle, Jeffrey R. Davis of Lowell, Mass.; and an aunt, Jocelyn Foard Price McCausland of Phoenix.

George W. Bushby, 82, surveyors society chief

George Woodworth Bushby, a retired surveyor and the first chairman of the Maryland State Board for Professional Land Surveyors, died of pneumonia July 13 at Montgomery General Hospital after a four-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 82 and lived in Rockville.

During Mr. Bushby's two-year tenure as president of the Maryland Society of Surveyors, the state's professional organization for land surveyors, he successfully lobbied for the first land surveying licensing board separate from that for engineers. In 1977, he was appointed the board's first chairman and served in that role until 1985.

In 1959, Mr. Bushby became manager of the Rockville branch of the Baltimore-area civil engineering firm Matz-Childs Associates. He retired in 1988.

Mr. Bushby also worked with the State Roads Commission during the 1950s boom in highway construction, starting as a technician and eventually serving as director of the Right-of-Way Department's Survey Division, acquiring land to build roads.

During World War II, he was a military engineer and surveyor, building bridges and landing strips for the Allies in Western Europe.

Mr. Bushby was born in Atlantic City, N.J., and moved to Baltimore with his family at age 6. He attended Forest Park High School before studying engineering and surveying for two years at the University of Kentucky.

He was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was on the boards of Manor Country Club in Rockville, where he was a longtime member, and Montgomery General Hospital. He and his wife volunteered as the dinner committee at their Olney church.

Services will be held at 3 p.m. today at St. John's Episcopal Church, 3427 Olney-Laytonsville Road in Olney.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, the former Thelma Ries of Rockville; a son, James David Bushby of Rockville; a brother, John Donald Bushby of Cumberland; a sister, Ruth Streeks of Baltimore; and three grandchildren.

Betty J. Smith, 77, elementary school teacher

Betty J. Smith, a retired elementary school teacher, died Sunday of cancer at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. She was 77 and an Owings Mills resident.

Before arriving in Maryland in 1990, Mrs. Smith taught elementary school in Wheelersburg, Ohio, for more than 30 years.

Locally, she was a substitute teacher at Franklin Elementary School in Reisterstown. She also volunteered at the Maryland Science Center and the Liberty Assistance Center.

"She had a huge commitment to children and justice issues. She just loved people; that was her main passion in life," said a daughter, Christine M. Smith of Columbia Heights, Minn.

Born Betty J. Brooks in Portsmouth, Ohio, she received a bachelor's degree in education from Ohio State University.

In 1948, she married Raymond Smith, who survives her.

Mrs. Smith attended Wards Chapel United Methodist Church, 11023 Liberty Road in Randallstown, where a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

In addition to her husband and daughter, she is survived by another daughter, Pamela S. Smith of Pikesville; and two grandchildren.

Elsewhere

Gunther Gebel-Williams, 66, a circus animal trainer who delighted ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, during his three decades with the Greatest Show on Earth, died of cancer yesterday in Venice, Fla.

Mr. Gebel-Williams never missed a performance during his career with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He performed with elephants, tigers, leopards, lions, panthers, mountain lions, horses, goats, camels, zebras and a giraffe.