Catonsville Community

With bones, eyes and brains scattered around her, Kelly Brown laid down her scalpel yesterday and made the discovery of a lifetime."I wouldn't mind being a surgeon," said the 13-year-old Sum "R" Science camper, her full attention on the sheep eye she had dissected. "I never knew there were so many things connected inside."It's the sort of moment organizers of the girls-only camp live for: a young woman realizing that she could have a future in science.The camp, which ends Friday, is in its third year and is based at Catonsville Community College.

CATONSVILLE -- The county will put the spotlight on its community college system this week, with three days of ceremonies culminating in the formal inauguration of Chancellor Irving Pressley McPhail on Saturday.The first events take place today at Dundalk Community College, during a ceremony that will include the formal unveiling of the new logo for the community college system. Tomorrow, at 1 p.m. at Essex Community College, Terry O'Banion, a national expert on community colleges, will speak.

A Baltimore woman has bequeathed $1.25 million to Catonsville Community College -- reportedly the largest gift to a Maryland community college -- even though she never attended a class there.Grace M. Platzer, who died last year at age 91, grew fond of the college's Rolling Road campus during occasional visits over the years, attending U.S. Army Band concerts and college theatricals. She still visited the campus later in life while using a walker and wheelchair."She just fell in love with the college" as she got to know people on campus, said John A. Hayden, Platzer's lawyer and a longtime family friend.

Sylvia S. Davis, 69, English teacher, librarianSylvia S. Davis, who was an English teacher in Baltimore and a librarian for Catonsville Community College, died Wednesday at Sinai Hospital after undergoing brain surgery. Mrs. Davis had been suffering from cancer. She was 69.A native of Baltimore, the former Sylvia Smeyne graduated from Western Senior High School in 1946. She received a bachelor of arts degree in 1950 from Goucher College, a master of liberal arts degree in 1975 from the Johns Hopkins University, and a master of library science degree in 1982 from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Richard John Jeffries, a University of Baltimore and Catonsville Community College business professor and a sports car aficionado who owned many two-seaters over the years, died Sunday of Alzheimer's disease at St. Agnes Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Ellicott City.Mr. Jeffries, 67, a longtime Ellicott City resident, taught many business and marketing classes at both schools from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s."He made even the most boring of topics seem interesting," said Kendall Myers, a former student at Catonsville Community College.

On the hottest day of the year and on a field 20 yards longer than usual, Southern's speed proved no match for Towson's passing game.The Bulldogs stuck close to Towson well into the second half, but the Generals blew it open with six straight goals in the final eight minutes to take a 12-2 victory in a Class 1A/2A state semifinal last night at Catonsville Community College.The Generals (8-7) will make their first appearance in a state title game Wednesday when they meet Catonsville in the 8 p.m. championship at Catonsville Community College.

What rental property owners need to do to comply with the new Maryland lead paint law and regulations will be discussed at a forum from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 1 in building RQ at Catonsville Community College.The program will also tell landlords how to bring their property up to code and the consequences of violations.Speakers will include Alfred Singer of Singer Realty, Jeffrey Blumberg and Howard Mazor of Property Inspection Services, Amy Boblitz of Connor Environmental Service, Richard Anderson of the college's Environmental Project and attorney Andrew Hartman.

"Homicide Live!" an evening of performances by the cast and creators of the Baltimore-based television series, will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 at the Vagabond Theatre. The event will benefit the Fells Point Creative Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes the arts and humanities in Fells Point and Baltimore.In conjunction with the reading, Mary Lin Yoshimura, an artist and the wife of "Homicide" writer and producer James Yoshimura, will exhibit painted chairs, sculptures and collages.

The chancellor of Baltimore County's three community colleges has announced sweeping changes -- including eliminating 30 positions and buyouts for 50 employees -- as the first moves in restructuring Maryland's largest two-year college system.Daniel J. LaVista also has notified the system's 1,500 full-time employees that the health services office at Catonsville Community College will be closed, that operations at the Point Breeze training center will be severely curtailed and that community service funds will be trimmed.

Catonsville Community College has joined bigger, four-year colleges and universities in the pursuit of donor money, aiming to raise $8 million in a capital campaign.The college began its campaign on campus and through alumni in the spring, but plans to make it public today at a groundbreaking ceremony for a project that is its major beneficiary -- an applied technology center."Community colleges haven't historically been in the fund-raising business," said John Hayden, a Towson lawyer in his second year as the college's foundation president, explaining that the two-year institutions rely instead on state and county funds and federal grants.

Malcolm Graham Vinzant Jr., a founding faculty member of what is now the Community College of Baltimore County at Catonsville and who later rehabilitated houses and owned a popular Cross Street Market cheese stall, died Thursday from complications of a stroke at a Winter Park, Fla., assisted-living facility. The Federal Hill resident was 78. Mr. Vinzant, the son of a federal government worker and a homemaker, was born in Laredo, Texas, and moved to Catonsville shortly after his birth.

Murray J. Adams, Jr., well known vintage car collector and a respected contributor/member of the Catonsville Community for the last 50 plus years, was married to Ms. Gloria Nuestro Uy in a civil ceremony in Towson, MD on 12/23/08, followed by a Dinner Reception. Murray is a graduate of St. Paul's School, Calvert Hall College, University of Baltimore, and New York Institute of Finance. Murray is a former Financial Controller of Baker Watts & Co., and CEO of his firm, American Senior Financial Services, now retired living in the High Fields section of Catonsville.

Peggy Jean Weeks Norris, a career adviser at Catonsville Community College, died Wednesday of complications from intestinal surgery. She was 80. Born Peggy Jean Weeks on a cotton and cattle farm in Canton, Miss., Mrs. Norris was the older of two children. She spent her free time taking airplane flying lessons and caring for the family pet - a scarlet macaw her father brought home from Honduras, where he had worked on a banana plantation. Mrs. Norris first met her future husband, Ray N. Norris, at age 10, when her family rented farmland from Norris' grandmother.

William C. Gonce, a retired funeral director who established the mortuary science program at Catonsville Community College, died Sept. 11 of complications from a liver transplant at Gil- christ Center for Hospice Care. The Rosedale resident was 62. Mr. Gonce was born in Baltimore and raised in Northwood. He was a 1963 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School and earned a bachelor's degree in history from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg. In 1974, he earned a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University.

K. Elizabeth Grim, a Catonsville amateur historian who lectured widely about her community's curiosities and people, died of a heart ailment Saturday at Charlestown Retirement Community. The former Catonsville resident was 95. Born Katherine Elizabeth Grim, the Catonsville native was a member of the Catonsville High School Class of 1926, the first class to graduate from the Bloomsbury Avenue campus. Miss Grim then began working at her grandparents' Frederick Road bakery. She was the bakery's bookkeeper and helped sell the cakes, pies, buns and breads her family members made.

Martha Lambert Patrick, a retired administrator at Catonsville Community College, died of pancreatic cancer Thursday at her home in Port Orange, Fla. The former Pasadena resident was 77. A Maryland resident for all but the last two years of her life, Martha Quandt was born in Baltimore and graduated from Forest Park High School in 1944. Known to family and friends as Marty, she received a bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in liberal arts and a master's degree in modern studies from Loyola College.

Bernard F. "Buck" Rhoderick, a retired Catonsville Community College educator, died Saturday of complications after heart surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He was 77 and had been a resident of Timonium for 45 years. Born in Middletown and raised in Frederick, Mr. Rhoderick moved to Baltimore in 1941 after his graduation from Frederick High School. He worked briefly for the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River before enlisting in the Army Air Forces in 1942. He never flew in combat, but was trained to be a navigator-bombardier in the atomic bomb program.

John F. Doyle, a retired purchasing executive and Catonsville community leader, died Thursday at his home after a 20-year battle with cancer. He was 73. He was chief purchasing agent for Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s Linthicum-based Electronics Systems Aerospace, which makes radar-related devices. He retired in 1988 after 36 years of service. He represented Westinghouse with two defense-related trade groups, the Aerospace Industry Association and the Electronic Systems Group. He often addressed groups on topics related to purchasing materials.

The latest in the enticing "Chamber Music by Candlelight" series showcased Baltimore Symphony members in a diverse mix of repertoire Sunday evening at Second Presbyterian Church. It was refreshing to hear the Violin Sonata by Amy Beach, one of America's most absurdly overlooked composers. Yes, the piece sounds a lot like Brahms, Strauss and other Europeans, but a distinctive stamp can be detected, too. Violinist Ivan Stefanovic and pianist Amy Klosterman plunged into the super-heated romanticism with intensity and flair.

CATONSVILLE -- The county will put the spotlight on its community college system this week, with three days of ceremonies culminating in the formal inauguration of Chancellor Irving Pressley McPhail on Saturday.The first events take place today at Dundalk Community College, during a ceremony that will include the formal unveiling of the new logo for the community college system. Tomorrow, at 1 p.m. at Essex Community College, Terry O'Banion, a national expert on community colleges, will speak.