By Frederick N. Rasmussen|May 14, 2009
The Rev. Joseph Calvin Moreland, former head of the University of Maryland School of Social Work and a longtime church organist and choir director, died of heart failure May 5 at his Pikesville home. He was 79.
Mr. Moreland was born in Baltimore and raised on Broadway near Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was a 1947 graduate of City College and earned a bachelor's degree in social science from Gettysburg College in 1951.
After earning a master's degree in divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pa., in 1954, he was ordained a Lutheran minister.
FOR THE RECORD
Because of inaccurate information furnished by his family, an obituary published for the Rev. Joseph C. Moreland in Thursday's editions misstated his position with the University of Maryland School of Social Work. University records indicate that he had been an instructor there during the 1970s. The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.
He was pastor of a Lutheran church in Jefferson, Frederick County, and later at Zion Lutheran Church in Baltimore. He was an active member of Lutheran Social Services and was a director of youth programs at Camp Jolly Acres.
Mr. Moreland returned to college, where he earned a master's degree in social work from Ohio State University in 1969.
He worked for the Cuyahoga County Welfare Department and the Cleveland Society for the Blind before coming to Baltimore in the early 1970s, when he joined the school of social work at the University of Maryland.
Mr. Moreland, who later became director of the school of social work, retired in 2000.
In addition to his professional life, Mr. Moreland had been organist, choir director and minister of music at several area churches, some of which included Holy Comforter Lutheran Church in Govans, Second English Lutheran Church in Westview and St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Baltimore.
His last assignment was at Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Parkville, where he stepped down in 1996 because of arthritis.
The former Rodgers Forge resident enjoyed collecting ceramic swans.
He was a longtime member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, where services were held Friday.
Surviving are his companion of 30 years, C. B. "Billy" Slaughter; two sons, Scot Moreland of Richmond, Va., and Joseph Michael Moreland of Tucson, Ariz.; a daughter, Debbie Kohnof Manassas, Va.; and nine grandchildren. His marriage to the former Madelyn Cox ended in divorce.
