Bookkeeper

Shirley L. Bellis, a retired bookkeeper and enthusiastic rail traveler, died of a heart attack Jan. 30 at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Cockeysville resident was 82. Shirley Lynch Bellis was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved with her family to Baltimore in 1930 and settled on Wolfe Street. She was a 1942 graduate of Eastern High School and worked for more than 60 years as a bookkeeper until retiring in 2004. During her career, Miss Bellis worked as a bookkeeper for Brooks Robinson's sporting goods business but spent most of her career with the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Cornelia Dorothea Elizabeth Hoffman, a retired bookkeeper who sang in her church choir for 80 years, died of congestive heart failure Sunday at her Irvington home. She was 94."She had a beautiful soprano voice and sang from the time she was confirmed until two years ago," said her son, William H. Hoffman of Columbia. "She was also a good cook who made German potato salad and sour beef and dumplings."The former Cornelia Dorothea Elizabeth Zies was born in Southwest Baltimore. As a child, she spoke German at home -- her grandfather, Jakob Wilhelm Karl Zies, came to the United States in 1867 -- and she attended one of the last German-language public schools in the city, near Otterbein United Methodist Church.

Patricia M. Zimmerman, 55, bookkeeper and secretaryPatricia M. Zimmerman, a former Baltimore bookkeeper and secretary, died Thursday of cancer at a relative's home in Arnold. She was 55.A Baltimore native, the former Patricia Mahrer graduated from the old Seton High School about 1960 and was a secretary for the Baltimore Police Department. She was later a secretary for Farm Credit Bank and a bookkeeper for the Asphalt Service Co. from 1983 until last year, when she moved to Ocala, Fla. She returned to Arnold last month to live with her niece, Laurie Ferguson.

Lou Ella McGuire, 93, bookkeeperLou Ella McGuire, a retired bookkeeper, died of heart failure Tuesday at Manor Care-Roland Park, where she had lived for three months. She was 93.The native of St. Mary's, Pa., moved to Hamilton in Northeast Baltimore in 1947 and was a bookkeeper for two downtown accounting firms until 1968. She came out of retirement to join her nephew's public relations firm as a bookkeeper between 1972 and 1986.Miss McGuire was an active member of the Third Order of St. Francis, an organization that performs charitable works, and a volunteer at Stella Maris Hospice, She belonged to several card-playing clubs and enjoyed bowling.

Oprah Winfrey caused a rush at Family Pharmacy in Hampstead in March.During one episode of her talk show, she featured a medication that allegedly increases the female libido. The drug must be specially compounded -- that's where Family Pharmacy comes in. Its pharmacists specialize in custom compounding."We must have had 40 calls for that cream," said Eric Yospa, 31, one of two pharmacists at the store on Lower Beckleysville Road.Compounding used to be common in drugstores. Pharmacists prepared medications from raw ingredients according to doctors' prescriptions.

Jennie M. Habicht, 101, homemaker, bookkeeperJennie M. Habicht, a homemaker and former bookkeeper, died in her sleep Saturday at Meridian Nursing Home in Hamilton. She was 101.She and her husband, George R. Habicht, whom she married in 1919, bought Kirk-Habicht Co., a Baltimore manufacturer of custom-made industrial springs, in 1947. She was a bookkeeper there from 1948 until the mid-1970s.The former Jennie Graser was born on a farm near Glen Rock, Pa. She graduated from high school in 1912 and Patrick Commercial School in York, Pa. She moved to Baltimore in 1913 to work for the Baltimore Bargain House.

Margaret Pressler Miller, a bookkeeper and long-time Catonsville resident, died Aug. 28 at Stella Maris Hospice of complications of Alzheimer's disease. She was 85.Born in Irvington, Mrs. Miller graduated from Institute of Notre Dame. She worked as a secretary and bookkeeper for Koppers Co. in Baltimore and later for her husband's business, Baltimore Aero Service.Her husband of more than 60 years, Louis Turfield Miller, died in May.A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. today at St. Mark Church on Melvin Avenue in Catonsville.

Oprah Winfrey caused a rush at Family Pharmacy in Hampstead in March.During one episode of her talk show, she featured a medication that allegedly increases the female libido. The drug must be specially compounded -- that's where Family Pharmacy comes in. Its pharmacists specialize in custom compounding."We must have had 40 calls for that cream," said Eric Yospa, 31, one of two pharmacists at the store on Lower Beckleysville Road.Compounding used to be common in drugstores. Pharmacists prepared medications from raw ingredients according to doctors' prescriptions.

Ferdinand E. Fidati, 76, managed Woolworth storesFerdinand E. Fidati, who managed stores for F. W. Woolworth Co. for nearly four decades, died Sunday at the University of Maryland Medical Center of complications after heart surgery. He was 76 and lived in Rodgers Forge.Mr. Fidati joined the retailer in Philadelphia in 1947 and managed stores there and in New Jersey and Chicago before he moved to Baltimore in 1964.In the late 1970s, he managed Woolco stores in Prince George's County and then the store on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore.

Paul H. Rehert, 77, owned several businessesPaul H. Rehert, a former Baltimorean who owned various businesses, died of a heart attack Saturday at his West Palm Beach, Fla., residence. He was 77.During the 1950s, Mr. Rehert owned the Strand 5-and-10-cent store in Dundalk, which he later converted to Strand Surplus in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, he owned and operated Brill's Market in Highlandtown.The former Dundalk resident, who also owned a trucking company and pantyhose business, retired in 1985 and moved to Florida.

Audria L. Walcutt, a former bookkeeper and artist, died in her sleep Monday at Arden Courts in Pikesville. She was 86. Audria Lee Griffith was born and raised in Grayson, Ky. During World War II, she moved to Baltimore and went to work as a bookkeeper at Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River. In 1966, she married Charles Carroll Walcutt, a former Martin Marietta official who had been head of accounting, and later was an auditor with the U.S. Department of Defense. He died in 2005. Because of his work, the couple lived in Stamford, Conn.

Jan J. Hyde, a former owner of a Roland Park women's clothing store who later became a bookkeeper, died Monday of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. She was 61. Jan Jacobs was born in Baltimore and raised on Wingate Road in Roland Park. After graduating in 1966 from Roland Park Country School, she attended LaSalle Junior College in Boston for a year before transferring to the University of Maryland, College Park. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Mrs. Hyde owned and managed The Wardrobe, a women's clothing store, on Wyndhurst Avenue in Roland Park.

Anna Jeannette Raines, a retired receptionist and bookkeeper who had been an avid figure skater in her earlier years, died in her sleep Monday at the Pickersgill retirement home in Towson. She was 101. Anna Jeannette Taylor, the daughter of a butcher and a homemaker, was born in Hampstead and raised in Reisterstown. After graduating from Franklin High School in 1925, she went to work as a receptionist and bookkeeper for Dr. George L. Zimmerman, a Harford Road physician. "She also assisted in the delivery of many babies," said her son, John M. Raines Jr. of Glen Burnie.

Elinor L. Holter, a homemaker and former bookkeeper who fell in love while riding a commuter train, died Wednesday of complications from a stroke at Forest Hill Health and Rehabilitation Center in Harford County. The Loreley resident was 97. Elinor Louise Moulsdale was born and raised on her parents' 100-acre farm in Abingdon, which was part of a land grant to her grandfather from William Paca and the Calverts of Maryland. Family members said she was named for an aunt, a famous stage actress of the day, who died within days of her niece's birth.

MARGARET JEAN STARK, 81, of Berkeley Township, NJ passed away on February 9, 2009. Mrs. Stark was from Plainfield, NJ. She and her husband lived in Maryland for over 30 years, mostly in Randallstown before moving to Holiday City in Berkeley 16 years ago. Mrs. Stark was a graduate of Plainfield High School. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Tom's River, NJ and the Daughters of Scotia, Flowers of Scotland Lodge. She was a retired bookkeeper and secretary. Mrs. Stark was predeceased by her brother Ronald I. Leuchars.

Marion V. Bernstein, a retired corporate bookkeeper and secretary who was also a longtime volunteer, died of multiple organ failure July 27 at the Lorien Nursing Center in Columbia. She was 90. Marion Valentine Rigney - she got her middle name from being born on Valentine's Day in Pittsburgh - was a 1935 graduate of Pittsburgh's Taylor Allderdice High School. After marrying William Cary Barnes, an accountant with the Continental Can Co. in 1937, the couple settled in Baltimore's Pimlico neighborhood, where they raised their four children.

Rose C. Ulman, a former bookkeeper and patron of the arts, died Monday of complications from a stroke at her Pikesville home. She was 97. Rose Clayman was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, and after graduating from high school worked as a bookkeeper for several companies there. During a vacation to Virginia Beach, Va., she met her future husband, Erwin Ira Ulman, a Baltimore lawyer. The couple married in 1938. A resident of Eleven Slade for 45 years, Mrs. Ulman returned to work during the 1970s as her husband's bookkeeper.

Frances Garth Johnson, a career federal worker, died of liver cancer June 12. She was 91 and had lived in Ellicott City since 1987. Mrs. Johnson, who worked for the federal government for decades, was born in Hazlehurst, Miss. She was the ninth of 10 children born to Ada Bird Garth and Llewelyn Branham Garth, a doctor and farmer. After high school, she decided to pursue an education and career in bookkeeping. She attended a two-year business college in Mississippi and earned a bookkeeping degree.

Mary L. Remener, a retired bookkeeper and volunteer, died of cardiovascular disease April 8 at her Upperco home. She was 88. Miss Remener was born in Sandy Run, Pa., and graduated from Foster Township High School in Freeland, Pa. She came to Baltimore in 1940 and went to work as a bookkeeper for Commercial Credit Co. She retired in 1981. After retiring, Miss Remener volunteered for many years at Franklin Square Hospital and was an active communicant at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church in Parkton.

A Carroll County bookkeeper accused of embezzling more than $185,000 - including a total of $50,000 from a Cub Scout troop and an elementary school PTA - pleaded guilty yesterday to bank fraud, federal officials said. Angela E. Hiltz, 43, bought Ravens tickets, paid bills and furnished a home in Little River, S.C., with the embezzled money, according to court documents. The Mount Airy resident could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.