By Frederick N. Rasmussen , fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com|January 29, 2009
Inez B. Gilhooly, a retired Anne Arundel County educator who was a partner in a thoroughbred stable with her husband, died Friday of Alzheimer's disease at Skyway Manor assisted living in Cape St. Claire. She was 79.
Inez Blair Johnson was born and raised in Roanoke, Va. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Concord College in Athens, Va., where she studied for 31/2 years and met her future husband.
In 1951, she married Eugene E. Gilhooly, and the next year, the couple moved to Anne Arundel County, where they began their careers as educators.
"Inez didn't finish college, but in those days you didn't need the full certification to teach," said Mr. Gilhooly, who retired in 1985 from Davidsonville Elementary School, where he had been principal.
Mrs. Gilhooly taught at Linthicum, Belvedere and Folger McKinsey elementary schools before joining the faculty of Central Special Education Center in Edgewater, working with physically and mentally disabled students.
"Working with special-needs children takes more patience than most people have," said Nancy J. P. Lively, now retired from Anne Arundel County public schools, where she had been a library and media specialist for years.
"She tried so hard to reach those children. She didn't want her classroom to be some holding ground. If they could learn, no matter how long it took, she'd figure out some way and was determined for them to learn," said Mrs. Lively, who was often called upon by Mrs. Gilhooly to assist her in working with students.
"She worked just as hard for her kids as if they were gifted-and-talented students. Other teachers might not do that, but that wasn't Inez. That's the attitude she had," Mrs. Lively said.
Theodore J. Brown, now retired from Anne Arundel County public schools, had been Mrs. Gilhooly's principal when she was teaching fourth grade at Belvedere Elementary School.
"She was probably the most reliable and helpful individual I ever had as a faculty member. If there were an all-star faculty team, she'd be my fourth-grade teacher," said Mr. Brown.
"I was a new principal at Belvedere, and Inez was right behind me. I never once heard her say, 'We used to do it this way,' " he said. "Also, her paperwork and records were always done to perfection."
Mary Katherine Bruni Leadbeater was a member of Mrs. Gilhooly's third-grade class at Germantown Elementary School.
