Felix P. Santoro, 66, city housing inspector Felix P...

Felix P. Santoro, 66, city housing inspector

Felix P. Santoro, a retired Baltimore housing department inspector, died Aug. 23 of pulmonary hypertension at his Essex home. He was 66.

Mr. Santoro was a senior inspector for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City for 33 years before retiring in 1999.

Born in Vasto, Italy, Mr. Santoro immigrated with his family to New York City and then to Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood in 1943. He was a graduate of Calvert Hall College high school.

A dog fancier, Mr. Santoro raised Afghan hunting hounds and was a member of the Afghan Kennel Club. He also judged dog shows.

In 1964, he married Jacqueline Lee, who died in 1997.

Services were held Sunday.

He is survived by a son, Michael Santoro of Chase; a daughter, Gena Buddie of Deerfield, Fla.; four brothers, Philip Santoro, Michael Santoro, Victor Santoro and Robert Santoro, all of Baltimore; three sisters, Theresa Krause and Anna Marie Daley, both of Baltimore, and Elena Santoro of Brooklyn, N.Y.; three stepsons, Robert Heimbach and Billy Heimbach, both of Chase, and Michael Heimbach of Hanover; a stepdaughter, Kathie Heimbach Leibig of Baltimore; four grandchildren; and special friend Lorraine Sunder of Stewartstown, Pa.

Fern L. Henderson, 50, SSA benefits authorizer

Fern Louise Henderson, a Social Security Administration benefits authorizer who was active in the Order of the Eastern Star, died of cancer Saturday at Sinai Hospital. The Windsor Mills resident was 50.

She had worked for 10 years at Social Security, and formerly was an account representative for a Baltimore finance company.

Born Fern Louise Leeper in Ashburton, she was a graduate of Forest Park High School and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Morgan State University. She took postgraduate classes at the Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland.

Mrs. Henderson was a worthy matron of Electra Chapter No. 1 of the Order of the Eastern Star, past ancient matron of J. Marray Ralph No. 45 Heroine of Jericho and past illustrious commandress of Jerusalem Court No. 1 of Daughters of Isis.

She was a parishioner of Orchard Park Christian Jubilee United Methodist Church in Gwynn Oak.

Services will be held at 7 p.m. today at Prince Hall Masonic Temple, 1307 Eutaw St. in Baltimore.

She is survived by her husband of five years, Leonard H. Henderson Jr.; her parents, Dr. Lucius W. and Nola Ruth Leeper of Baltimore; a brother, Frederick Leeper of Randallstown; and a sister, Yvette Dixon of Eldersburg.

Mary G. Barrow, 95, bookkeeper, salesclerk

Mary G. Barrow, a retired bookkeeper, died Friday of an infection at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. She was 95 and lived in Forest Hill.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Mary Gray sailed to the United States in May 1926 aboard the steamship USS California. She lived in New York City for two years before marrying Victor Harold Barrow, a Harford County horse trainer who died in 1945.

From 1944 to 1968, she was a Black & Decker Corp. bookkeeper. She also was a department store salesclerk for the old Hutzler's department store in the 1950s.

"One of her proudest moments was becoming a naturalized citizen," said her daughter, Bettie Panos of Bel Air, noting also that Mrs. Barrow crossed the Atlantic 17 times to visit relatives "in her beloved bonnie Scotland."

Mrs. Barrow was a 70-year member of Bethel Presbyterian Church in Madonna and belonged to the Towson Order of the Eastern Star and Salvation Army Auxiliary. She did volunteer work for hospitals and, from 1997 to 1999, the Harford County Health Department.

Services were held yesterday.

Also surviving are two other daughters, Deedie Mink and Marge Hannahs, both of Forest Hill; 11 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and 12 great-great-grandchildren.

Elsewhere

Bob Martwick, 75, who discovered and handled Morris the Cat, died Sunday in Chicago. A lifelong pet lover and one-time owner of a kennel in suburban Lombard, Ill., Mr. Martwick found the original Morris at a shelter in nearby Hinsdale in the 1960s, when Starkist Seafood was looking for a cat to star in television advertisements for its Nine Lives cat food.

The original Morris died in the 1970s, but Mr. Martwick also served as handler for the second Morris. In all, Mr. Martwick spent 27 years touring the nation with the two finicky orange cats, and also helped discover Spuds MacKenzie, the bull terrier who pitched beer for Anheuser-Busch.

Raymond Abescat, 109, believed to be the world's oldest World War I veteran, died Saturday in Rueil-Malmaison outside Paris, his family said. The Veterans Ministry announced the death Monday.

John Nelson, 85, a jazz musician who was the father of pop star Prince, died Saturday in Chanhassen, Minn. Nelson was the model for a character in the 1984 Prince movie "Purple Rain." He also co-wrote songs on several of his son's albums. In the 1950s, he was a pianist in the jazz group Prince Rogers Trio featuring singer Mattie Shaw. Shaw and Nelson married, and they named their son Prince Roger Nelson.