Engineering Firm

William G. Robertson Jr., a retired president of a Baltimore engineering firm and Planned Parenthood volunteer, died of heart failure Sunday at his winter home in Naples, Fla. The Lutherville resident was 93. Mr. Robertson was born and raised in Baltimore and was a 1931 graduate of Polytechnic Institute. He worked at Bethlehem Steel Corp. while attending night classes at the Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He began his career in 1947 as a consulting engineer with Henry Adams Inc., an electrical and mechanical engineering company, and was named the company's president in 1960.

William Palmer Kees, 74, engineer, designer of roadsWilliam Palmer Kees, a civil engineer who helped design roads in Maryland, Africa and Thailand, died Friday of complications of diabetes at home in Hagerstown. He was 74.The Baltimore native graduated from Polytechnic Institute and the Johns Hopkins University's McCoy College with a degree in civil engineering. He served in the Army Air Corps in Guam during World War II.Working as a surveyor for the Baltimore engineering firm of Kooken & Co., Mr. Kees helped to redesign the seating area at Memorial Stadium during the 1950s.

The county is suing an Aberdeen engineering firm for $145,000, contending that construction of the Hickory Park Recreation Complex was delayed because the civil engineers did not do a required wetlands study before construction began.The suit, filed Feb. 25 in Harford Circuit Court by Richard G. Herbig and Paula S. Etting, assistant county attorneys, alleges that Windward Associates Inc. of the first block of Parke St. in Aberdeen was negligent and breached its 1989 contract with the county by failing to determine the boundaries of wetlands within the planned complex.

John F. Grice, chairman of a Towson engineering firm, died July 30 of lung cancer at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 69.At his death, he was chairman of the board of Henry Adams Inc., consulting engineers, where he began his career in 1952. Earlier, he had been president and treasurer of the company.Born in Pittsburgh, he moved to Baltimore in 1931 and was educated in city schools. He was a 1943 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1946, completing the course in three years.

Raising the ante in a legal battle over alleged shoddy construction, owners of Abingdon condominiums have named 12 more defendants in an amended lawsuit and increased damages sought from $115 million to $385 million.Attorneys for the Council of Unit Owners at The Pointe in $H Constant Friendship filed the original suit against Cockeysville developers The Pointe Inc. and Henderson-Webb Inc., and Baltimore structural engineers Skarda and Associates Inc. in January 1992.The suit sought compensation on behalf of 228 unit owners, alleging "severe problems" with roofs, walls, floors, stairs and doors.

New positionsPrincess Royale Hotel and Conference Center in Ocean City promoted Ray Rickett to director of convention services.RTKL Associates Inc., an architecture/engineering firm in Baltimore, promoted Paul Hanegraaf, Robert E. Fagg and Bernard C. Friel to vice presidents.Loyola College in Baltimore named Francis "Frank" McGuire dean of graduate services.Segall-Majestic Photography Inc. in Baltimore named John L. Segall chief executive officer.Marks, Thomas and Associates Inc., an architecture firm in Baltimore, named Joseph Fenton to the firm.

Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. has named Joan Russell manager of thePasadena/Gibson Island office at 4100-D Mountain Road.Russell, aDavidsonville resident, has 24 years of real estate experience in the Washington/Baltimore corridor. Prior to joining Long & Foster, she was the recruiter for O'Connor, Piper & Flynn and Coldwell Banker's regional recruiter for Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties.LADDTAKES OVER MARLEYEd Ladd has been appointed general manager of Marley Station shopping center in Glen Burnie.

"LET'S MAKE A DEAL" -- better known as bartering -- is a way of doing business that predates the existence of currency. Here are some issues to consider before your company participates in a transaction.There are two bartering categories. One consists of informal trade-offs like all of us made with our siblings or friends as children: "I will clean the porch, if you do the dishes." But when businesses do this, the action is tainted as "under the table," a trade of products or services that is conducted outside the sight of the tax collector.

AccountingKenneth V. Moreland is appointed a partner of the international accounting and consulting firm. He will be responsible for serving clients in financial services, computer software and education. He will also work with clients in the firm's Emerging Business Services Department.He was previously an accounting fellow in the office of the chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Before that, he was associated with the Baltimore office of Coopers from 1979 to 1988.

Jack E. Leisch, a former Baltimore resident who had been a federal roads engineer and later retired from his own engineering firm, died Sunday of cancer at a hospital in Evanston, Ill.Services for Mr. Leisch, who was 78, were being held today at the Weinstein Brothers Chapel in Wilmette, Ill., where he resided.Born in Europe, he was a 1932 graduate of the Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore and a 1935 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University. At Poly, he was a member of both the track and football teams.

Roland Talmadge Talton Jr., former owner of a Baltimore engineering firm, died Nov. 6 of cardiac and respiratory failure at Upper Chesapeake Bay Medical Center. The longtime Bel Air resident was 89. Born and raised in Pocomoke City, the son of a B&O railroader and a homemaker, Mr. Talton was a 1937 graduate of Pocomoke High School. During World War II, he joined the Army Air Forces and served as an instructor with the 88th Bomb Group. Mr. Talton attended the University of Virginia and Georgetown University.

Robert Gamble James, a retired civil engineer who was a founding partner of a Towson engineering firm, died of a pulmonary hemorrhage April 20 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. He was 76 and lived in Bel Air. Mr. James was born and raised in Detroit, where he graduated in 1951 from Mackenzie High School. He earned a civil engineering degree in 1955 from Wayne State University and a master's degree in the discipline from Michigan State University in 1966. After serving in the Army in the late 1950s, he went to work as a civil engineer for the city of Detroit.

Charles Alvin Diver, a civil engineer and World War II veteran, died of a stroke Jan. 24 at Oak Crest Village retirement community in Parkville. He was 86. Mr. Diver, who was born in Baltimore and raised in the Hamilton neighborhood, graduated from Polytechnic Institute. In 1942, he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. He was commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers on the day of his graduation, and he served in Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, France and Germany, attaining the rank of major.

Christopher D. Suntum, a civil engineering designer who enjoyed gardening, died of a brain tumor June 11 at his Columbia home. He was 57. Mr. Suntum was born in Denver and raised in Takoma Park. He was a 1969 graduate of Montgomery Blair High School and earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1975. After graduating from Maryland, Mr. Suntum hitchhiked across the country, stopping along the way to visit family and friends. It was during this trip that he fell in love with the Rocky Mountains, which became a favorite lifelong destination, family members said.

Advertising Carton Donofrio Partners announced that Brian Eden, a senior copy writer, and Helen Goldring, a senior art director, have joined the staff of the Baltimore-based marketing communications firm. Banking and finance The Columbia Bank appointed Dave Kuhns as group vice president, retail lending and mortgage banking. He had been a vice president and manager of the bank's Ellicott City branch. Butler Capital Corp. appointed Joseph P. Serio as president and chief operating officer of the Hunt Valley-based national business lending firm.

William G. Robertson Jr., a retired president of a Baltimore engineering firm and Planned Parenthood volunteer, died of heart failure Sunday at his winter home in Naples, Fla. The Lutherville resident was 93. Mr. Robertson was born and raised in Baltimore and was a 1931 graduate of Polytechnic Institute. He worked at Bethlehem Steel Corp. while attending night classes at the Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He began his career in 1947 as a consulting engineer with Henry Adams Inc., an electrical and mechanical engineering company, and was named the company's president in 1960.

Lawrence E. Jones, a civil engineer and founder of a Towson engineering firm, died of pulmonary hypertension Friday at Great Baltimore Medical Center. He was 65. Mr. Jones was born in Hornell, N.Y., and moved with his family to the Baltimore area, where he was raised in Aero Acres in Middle River and later in the city's Northwood neighborhood. He was a 1956 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Maryland.

W. Edward Deacon, a retired executive of a mechanical engineering firm, died of a respiratory ailment Saturday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Towson resident was 90. Born in Baltimore and raised on Patterson Park Avenue, he was a 1931 graduate of Polytechnic Institute. During World War II, Mr. Deacon did classified work at the former Glenn L. Martin Co. aircraft plant in Middle River. He joined Power and Combustion Inc. in 1950, and retired in 1984 as its vice president. He was a member of Waverly Lodge of the Masons and the Engineering Society of Baltimore.

New Positions Ostling joins Performax as VP, senior consultant Performax has appointed Laurence Ostling as vice president and senior sales consultant for the Baltimore-based health and benefits plan management and administration firm. Formerly a regional marketing director for New England Financial, he is responsible for design and implementation of plans for clients in the Chicago area. BACVA names Bryant national accounts director The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association named Richard Bryant director of national accounts in the convention sales division.

Henry Goldsmith, a retired chemical engineer and former president of Allied Products Inc., died of a heart attack yesterday at Northwest Hospital Center. The Pikesville resident was 79. Born in Berlin and raised in Vienna and Prague, Mr. Goldsmith and his family escaped Nazi persecution by immigrating to Baltimore in 1938. After graduating from City College in 1939, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1944. He subsequently earned a master's degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering there.