Boys Latin School

In June 2009, my husband Sam and I slammed down the hatchback of our Honda CRV, the interior bulging with containers of Legos and books, school supplies and board games, and a box of shoes, a tin of Old Bay in the glove compartment. On the roof was a plastic carrier with as much clothing as we could stuff into it: the necessities of five soon-to-be expatriates. Everything else was in the basement of our Lutherville home, with a new family moving in at the end of the month. Our mission: to give our three children a taste of life in a foreign country, where the language, food, and culture would be vastly different from suburban Baltimore.

In June 2009, my husband Sam and I slammed down the hatchback of our Honda CRV, the interior bulging with containers of Legos and books, school supplies and board games, and a box of shoes, a tin of Old Bay in the glove compartment. On the roof was a plastic carrier with as much clothing as we could stuff into it: the necessities of five soon-to-be expatriates. Everything else was in the basement of our Lutherville home, with a new family moving in at the end of the month. Our mission: to give our three children a taste of life in a foreign country, where the language, food, and culture would be vastly different from suburban Baltimore.

The 1978 valedictorian of the Boys' Latin School in North Baltimore will end his career in military intelligence to become the school's new headmaster, the board of trustees has announced. Scott K. Gibson III, 42, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, will assume the school's top post after headmaster M. Mercer Neale III retires in June. Neale has been headmaster since 1994. Gibson was unavailable for comment. He said in a statement that he wants to give back to his alma mater, which provided him and his classmates with "excellent classroom instruction" and "lessons in character."

Alexander Hamilton "Ham" Bishop III, a respected headmaster who led five independent schools during his lengthy career in education, died of kidney failure complications Saturday at ManorCare Health Services Dulaney. He was 85 and lived in North Baltimore. Educational colleagues said he was often sought out as a school administrator. In 1994, he was the first head of the Odyssey School, founded by parents of dyslexic children. "He gave the new school instant credibility," said Marty Sweeney, Odyssey's head.

Kenneth C. Miller Jr., an architect and alumnus who helped plan the move of Boys' Latin School from its location on Brevard Street in downtown Baltimore to its Lake Avenue campus in 1960, died March 10 of cancer at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Lutherville resident was 63.Mr. Miller had been plant manager at Boys' Latin since 1987. In 1948, he graduated from Boys' Latin and won the C. Markland Kelly Award as the state's best high school lacrosse player.He earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1952 from Princeton University.

Boys' Latin School of Maryland reveled in its 150-year history yesterday by celebrating the accomplishments of former students and leaving behind mementos for future students.Maryland's oldest, independent nonsectarian school honored its past and future by burying a time capsule, inducting 12 alumni into a new Hall of Fame and dedicating a garden in memory of a 1991 graduate who was killed when he refused to sell a ballpoint pen to a stranger.The daylong homecoming event also was a time "to bring alumni back and renew old friendships," said Dyson Ehrhardt, a 1959 graduate of Boys' Latin and its director of alumni relations and development.

J. Marshall Bruce Jr., a clinical psychologist and teacher who headed the English department at Boys' Latin School for more than two decades, died Wednesday of heart failure at the Presbyterian Home of Maryland in Towson. The longtime Elkridge Estates resident was 89. Mr. Bruce, the son of a Mount Royal Avenue automobile dealership owner and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised on Greenspring Valley Road. After graduating from Gilman School in 1939, he entered Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1943.

Zakary Aaron Osiris DeGross, a Boys' Latin School student who excelled in both the classroom and on the athletic field, died June 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a nearly 1 1/2-year struggle against cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 14. "He was most notably characterized by his broad smile and wide eyes, and his optimism and cheerfulness that abounded in the face of a most difficult medical challenge," said Christopher J. Post, headmaster of the North Baltimore boys private school.

S pringtime in Baltimore, and that means lacrosse, high school and collegiate. A friend of mine, Mary Garson, who lives near Boys' Latin School, told me that as soon as the double-whammy February snowstorms had ended, the lacrosse field at the school had been cleared of 50 inches of snow, even while many Baltimore streets still remained impassable. Garson reported that she could hear the screech of whistles and shouting as the team practiced for the season while surrounded by mountains of snow.

Boys' Latin School of Maryland has received $5 million from one alumnus, allowing the school to almost triple its endowment, enlarge its upper school and nearly reach its $12 million capital campaign goal.David D. Smith, chief executive officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates Fox 45 and 63 other television stations, has pledged $5 million to the school's endowment fund as part of the campaign. Smith is a 1968 graduate of the school and father of two Boys' Latin students."This gift takes our campaign to another level," said headmaster Mercer Neale, who said the school had originally planned two phases: $6 million for the upper school and another $6 million for the endowment.

Edward Standish "Brad" Bradford Jr., a career educator who had been headmaster of Boys' Latin School during the early 1980s, died Thursday from complications after surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 83. The son of a businessman and a homemaker, Mr. Bradford was born and raised in Longmeadow, Mass. After graduating from Admiral Billard Academy in New London, Conn., he served in the Air Force during the Korean War. After being discharged from the service, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1956 from the University of Connecticut.

J. Marshall Bruce Jr., a clinical psychologist and teacher who headed the English department at Boys' Latin School for more than two decades, died Wednesday of heart failure at the Presbyterian Home of Maryland in Towson. The longtime Elkridge Estates resident was 89. Mr. Bruce, the son of a Mount Royal Avenue automobile dealership owner and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised on Greenspring Valley Road. After graduating from Gilman School in 1939, he entered Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1943.

Zakary Aaron Osiris DeGross, a Boys' Latin School student who excelled in both the classroom and on the athletic field, died June 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a nearly 1 1/2-year struggle against cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 14. "He was most notably characterized by his broad smile and wide eyes, and his optimism and cheerfulness that abounded in the face of a most difficult medical challenge," said Christopher J. Post, headmaster of the North Baltimore boys private school.

Tom Martin Pizzala, a career salesman and a beach lover, died May 24 of lung cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. He was 55. Mr. Pizzala was born and raised in Wilmington, Del. He was a 1973 graduate of Alexis I. DuPont High School in Wilmington, and earned a bachelor's degree in 1977 in biology from the University of Delaware. Mr. Pizzala had worked 15 years for W.L. Gore & Associates in Newark, Del., whose products include Gore-Tex. At the time of his death, he was a sales associate in Baltimore for Tradesman International, a construction recruiter and employer.

John S. "Jack" Kerns Jr., a retired printing executive who was active in several patriotic organizations, died Monday of heart failure at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Timonium resident was 74. Mr. Kerns was born in Baltimore and raised in Garrison. He was a 1952 graduate of the Boys' Latin School and earned a bachelor's degree from Babson College in Massachusetts in 1957. He served in the Army with the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, where he attained the rank of corporal.