Air High School

Charles R. Daneker, a retired executive of the Daneker Clock Co., died of heart failure Thursday at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 92. Mr. Daneker, who was known as "Brod," was born and raised in Bel Air. After graduating from Bel Air High School, he earned his bachelor's degree in 1936 from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College. He was commander of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp on the Eastern Shore before enlisting in the Army, where he served in the infantry.

The Bel Air Drama Company will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster by presenting "Titanic, the Musical" on the weekend of April 12, 13 and 14. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. the 12th and 13th with a 1 p.m. matinee on the 14th. Saturday night's presentation will begin at 8:15 p.m. and timed so that in the performance, the ship strikes the iceberg at 9:40 p.m. (11:40 ship-time) - the exact time of the collision 100 years prior. All tickets are $10 in advance (see any member of the cast or crew for advanced sales)

W. Eugene Graybeal, former chairman of the Bel Air town commissioners and a hardware store owner, died Saturday of complications of Parkinson's disease at Hart Heritage Home in Forest Hill. He was 83 and lived in Bel Air.Long active in Harford County politics, Mr. Graybeal was a town commissioner and member of the Harford County Board of Education in the 1980s. He also was chairman of the Harford County Charter Board in the 1970s.From 1950 to 1981, he co-owned and ran Courtland Hardware, a store much recalled for its oiled, aromatic pine wood floors.

As I pulled into the front parking lot of Bel Air High School about 7 a.m. on Thursday, two men caught my eye. They were standing on the corner adjacent to the entrance to the school parking lot on Kenmore Avenue. Friday morning, the men were back, this time standing on the corner of Kenmore Avenue and Bobcat Drive. The men were holding up large signs in protest against abortion. Pro-life supporters have often been seen before around the town of Bel Air. They hold up signs displaying text and images opposing abortion.

School plays -- Bel Air High School drama students will perform 1960s suspense thriller Wait Until Dark, Thursday and Saturday in the auditorium, 100 Heighe St. Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, including Ivan Plis (left) as Petruchio and Kara Procell as Kate, will be performed Friday. Shows start at 7 p.m. $8 for adults, $7 for students and $6 for age 12 and under and 60 and over. 410-638-4600.

The two people killed in a car crash on Tufton Avenue near Dover Road early Tuesday morning were identified by Baltimore County police yesterday as a 19-year-old Taneytown man and a 17-year-old Bel Air girl. John Ryan Strebe and Allison Anne Petrecca were traveling east at high speed on Tufton Avenue in Shawan in a 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder when Strebe lost control of the car on a slight bend, said Officer Shawn Vinson, a Baltimore County police spokesman. The car skidded across the double yellow line, spun around and slid into a pole and a bridge embankment, police said.

Mary Elizabeth Sudbrink, a retired Harford County educator and former Bel Air resident, died Sunday at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque of injuries she suffered in an April automobile accident. She was 68. Mary Elizabeth Wimmer was born in Baltimore and raised in Joppa. She was a 1955 graduate of Bel Air High School. In 1959, she earned a bachelor's degree in education from what is now Towson University. She returned to Towson to earn a master's degree in writing in 1991.

Nearly 20,000 people lined the streets of Bel Air Sept. 15 to watch the parade celebrating the centennial of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Co.The parade, which lasted about two hours, featured performances by 16 marching bands, the Mummers from Philadelphia and the Colts Marching Band.The parade started on Lee Street and followed Bond Street to the Bel Air High School complex.Meanwhile, a flea market tempted festival-goers with fire company collectibles and memorabilia like shirts, key chains.

Harford County's schedule for starting public discussions of land-use planning has come under criticism from the Jewish community for setting meetings on Jewish holy days. Stuart Jay Robinson, president of the Jewish Council of Harford County, said that two of the four kickoff meetings presented conflicts: The meeting Wednesday at Joppatowne High School coincides with the start of Passover and the meeting April 23 at Bel Air High School coincides with the last day of Passover. Robinson asked that the two meetings be rescheduled or that additional dates be offered to allow for Jewish participation.

The Peabody Ragtime Ensemble will perform today and next Sunday.Today's concert takes place 7 p.m. in the band shell on the grounds of the Bel Air Town Hall. The free event is sponsored by the Bel Air Recreation Committee.In case of rain, the performance takes place at Bel Air High School.The ensemble will present another outdoor concert 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, in the Great Bowl at Ladew Topiary Gardens, 3535 Jarrettsville Pike, in Monkton.Tickets, on sale at the gardens the day ofthe concert only, include admission to the concert as well as the 22acres of gardens.

Mary Louise Boniface, the matriarch of a Maryland family whose horse-breeding successes included a winner of the Preakness Stakes, died Sunday at the Glen Meadows Retirement Community in Glen Arm. She suffered a fall late last year and never recovered. She was 91. Born Mary Louise Anderson in Bel Air and raised on its Main Street, she attended St. Margaret's Parochial School and was a 1936 Bel Air High School graduate. She took courses at the Eaton-Burnett Business School and became a medical secretary.

Frederick Yates Ward, founder of a Harford County surveying firm who also led in the restoration of downtown Bel Air, died of pneumonia April 1 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 81. Mr. Ward was born in Boone, N.C., and moved with his family to Bel Air in 1930. After graduating from Bel Air High School in 1945, he enlisted in the Army and served in the Pacific during the waning days of World War II. Discharged with the rank of sergeant, he entered the University of Maryland, College Park on the GI Bill of Rights and earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1954.

J. Howard Smith, a retired procurement manager and furniture refinisher, died of pneumonia Feb. 25 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. The longtime Churchville resident was 83. The son of a dairy farmer, Mr. Smith was born and raised in Aberdeen. He was a 1942 graduate of Bel Air High School and was deferred during World War II because he was engaged in essential agricultural work. During the late 1940s, he managed Western Maryland Dairy in Churchville, and later owned and operated Maiden Lane Farm near Bel Air for more than 15 years.

Gary P. Warfield, a retired Harford County educator whose career spanned 25 years, died of respiratory failure Tuesday at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. He was 58. Mr. Warfield was born in Baltimore and raised in Bel Air. He graduated in 1967 from Bel Air High School, and in 1973 from what is now Towson University with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. He received a master's degree in 1978 in communicative disorders, and three years later received a master's degree in administrative supervision from Loyola College.

Raymond J. Dombrowski, who taught music at Bel Air High School for more than 30 years and also was leader of the school's band and Bobcat Marching Band, died Monday of pancreatic cancer at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. He was 79. Mr. Dombrowski, the son of Polish immigrant parents, was born in Pittsburgh and raised in New Castle, Pa. He began playing piano when he was 4, and after learning to play the saxophone and clarinet when he was a teenager, began performing with local dance bands.

On December 28, 2007, MATT "Hank" RUTHERFORD of Bel Air, MD, beloved son of Kevin Wade Rutherford and Mary Michele "Chele" Schirmer, loving brother of Andrew T. Rutherford. Also survived by grandparents, Margarette L. Rutherford, Claudette Keeney and David L. Brown. Services will be held on Thursday January 3, 2008 at 10A.M., in the Cook Auditorium at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, MD. Interment will be in Bel Air Memorial Gardens, in Bel Air, MD. Friends may call at the church on Wednesday January 2, 2008 from 6 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Matt "Hank" Rutherford to the Bel Air High School Athletic Department, 100 Heighe St., Bel Air, MD 21014.

On March 8, 2005. JAMES ROBERT "Jim" WHITEHURST, of Bel Air, MD. Husband of the late Harriett C. Whitehurst. Father of James P. Whitehurst and his wife, Karen, and Kristin E. Whitehurst and her husband Todd Keenan. Brother of the late D. Keith Whitehurst, and brother-in-law of Shirley M. Whitehurst. Also survived by grandchildren James J. Whitehurst, Jonathan A. Keenan, Katherine E. Keenan, and many nieces and nephews; and a friend, Patti Brazier, of Fallston. A Memorial Celebration will be held at Bel Air United Methodist Church of Bel Air on Friday, March 11, 2005 at 3 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to The Jim Whitehurst Athletic Scholarship Fund, c/o Bel Air High School, 100 Heighe Street, Bel Air, MD 21014; or, The Camp Shohola Scholarship Fund, c/o Marc Roth, 43 Hickory Lane, Doylestown, PA 18901.

On December 28, 2007, MATT "Hank" RUTHERFORD of Bel Air, MD, beloved son of Kevin Wade Rutherford and Mary Michele "Chele" Schirmer, loving brother of Andrew T. Rutherford. Also survived by grandparents, Margarette L. Rutherford, Claudette Keeney and David L. Brown. Services will be held on Thursday January 3, 2008 at 10A.M., in the Cook Auditorium at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, MD. Interment will be in Bel Air Memorial Gardens, in Bel Air, MD. Friends may call at the church on Wednesday January 2, 2008 from 6 to 9 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Matt "Hank" Rutherford to the Bel Air High School Athletic Department, 100 Heighe St., Bel Air, MD 21014.

School plays -- Bel Air High School drama students will perform 1960s suspense thriller Wait Until Dark, Thursday and Saturday in the auditorium, 100 Heighe St. Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, including Ivan Plis (left) as Petruchio and Kara Procell as Kate, will be performed Friday. Shows start at 7 p.m. $8 for adults, $7 for students and $6 for age 12 and under and 60 and over. 410-638-4600.

Mary Elizabeth Sudbrink, a retired Harford County educator and former Bel Air resident, died Sunday at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque of injuries she suffered in an April automobile accident. She was 68. Mary Elizabeth Wimmer was born in Baltimore and raised in Joppa. She was a 1955 graduate of Bel Air High School. In 1959, she earned a bachelor's degree in education from what is now Towson University. She returned to Towson to earn a master's degree in writing in 1991.