Engineering Society

Dorothea M. Gray, a docent at a historic Mount Vernon Place home and a gardening enthusiast, died Tuesday of a stroke at her home in the Hampton section of Towson. She was 85. Born Dorothea Bates in Baltimore, she was raised in the Forest Park area and was a 1936 graduate of Forest Park High School. She was known as Dottie. She married architect William E. Gray in 1939, and ran his Charles Street business office. Her husband died in 1987. Mrs. Gray led tours of the Engineering Society of Baltimore - the former Garrett-Jacobs mansion - and was twice president of its women's auxiliary.

David Lucien Gaudreau, a retired engineer and builder, died of congestive heart failure July 12 at his Naples, Fla., home. He was 93. Born in Braintree, Mass., he was the son of architect Lucien E.D. Gaudreau, who moved to Baltimore in the 1920s as a project architect for the construction of St. Mary's Seminary in Roland Park. Mr. Gaudreau was a 1937 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, where he earned 10 varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and swimming.

BALTIMORE'S historic Engineering Society headquarters appears to have grown a second skin this winter, as if it's trying to stay extra warm.The new outer coat consists of plastic sheets over scaffolding that has been set up for crews repairing the brownstone facade of the Mount Vernon landmark, which dates from the 1880s.The plastic wasn't attached to keep the construction crews warm, though it might have done that. It was put up to keep the building's surface temperature above 40 degrees, so restoration work could proceed when air temperatures fell below freezing.

Victor Beardsley Hertslet, a retired Arundel Co. official and longtime Towson resident, died Dec. 14 in his sleep at his daughter's Potomac, Mont., home. He was 97. Mr. Hertslet, the son of a British soldier who was killed at the Battle of the Somme during World War I and a housekeeper, was born in New York City and raised in Darien, Conn. After graduating from Peekskill Military Academy in 1929, he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1933 from Lehigh University.

The home of Baltimore's Engineering Society played host to a hot night at the fourth annual Fire Ball last Saturday. The honorary chairman, Baltimore City Fire Chief Herman Williams Jr. made sure the only things fired up at the Garrett-Jacobs mansion were the party's 250 guests.Others in attendance included Fire Ball co-chairpersons Sandy Whitney Jr. and Howard Yocum; Lite 102 radio announcer Mary Anne Perry and her fiance, Greg Zenger; Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund president Donald Vannoy; Engineering Society president Michael P. Goodrich; Baltimore Fire PIO Hector Torres; Fox45 meteorologist Lori Pinson; ESB board members Wendell Leimbach, Richard Magnani and Kate Carus; and event committee members Mike Szimanski, Si Braverman and Marian Bollinger.

Lawrence E. Lewis, an engineer who led the restoration of his profession's Mount Vernon Place clubhouse, died Sunday of brain cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 55 and lived in Lutherville. A project manager and design team leader for the state's Department of General Services, he oversaw construction of the Sweeney District Court House in Annapolis, a Towson University dormitory and the Salisbury State Student Center. He also led the conversion of the former downtown Hutzler's department store into the Saratoga State Office Building.

At the turn of the century, the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion was the center of Baltimore's social scene.Now, the Engineering Society of Baltimore, which owns the building, cannot afford to repair the city's largest townhouse. So, in an effort to raise $5 million for renovations, the group announced yesterday the formation of the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund."If we could bring the building up to the 20th century, it would be an economical building and a beautiful building," said Jay Hanna, the society's president.

An open-air courtyard off Mount Vernon Place will be enclosed under a glass and steel roof as part of a $5 million plan to increase and upgrade the meeting space at Baltimore's historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. The Engineering Society of Baltimore, which owns and operates the mansion at 7-11 W. Mount Vernon Place, also wants to restore several of its "period" rooms, build an addition containing an elevator, restrooms, commercial-grade kitchen and barrier-free entrance, and possibly add upper-level guest rooms.

Richard P. Franke, a retired mechanical engineer and business owner who was a leader in the Engineering Society of Baltimore, died of complications related to diabetes and cancer Tuesday at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. The former Riderwood resident was 80. Born in Fort Wayne, Ind., he moved with his family to Baltimore in 1939 and graduated from Polytechnic Institute in 1943. After serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II, he earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Johns Hopkins University.

Carl W. Watchorn, a retired electrical engineer and expert on the economics of power generating systems who had worked for a Pennsylvania utility headquartered in Baltimore, died June 8 at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown. He was 93.Mr. Watchorn had lived in the Fairhaven Retirement Community in Sykesville for about seven years.He worked for the General Electric Co. and the New York Edison Co. before moving to the Baltimore area in the late 1920s to work for the Pennsylvania Water and Power Co.In 1940, he became a registered professional engineer in Maryland.

John C. Burdette Jr., a retired electrical engineer and co-founder and partner in the Baltimore engineering firm of Burdette, Kohler, Murphy & Associates Inc., died of complications from diabetes Dec. 7 at his Glenarm home. He was 88. Born in Baltimore, the son of a B&O Railroad mechanical engineer and a homemaker, Mr. Burdette was raised in Edmondson Village. He was a 1939 graduate of City College and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1943 from the Johns Hopkins University.

William P. Lentz, a retired consulting engineer and World War II veteran, died in his sleep Monday at his Roland Park home. He was 90. Mr. Lentz was born in Baltimore and raised in Ten Hills. He was a 1935 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1939. He worked for Eastman Kodak Co. until enlisting in the Army Signal Corps. Trained in radar, Mr. Lentz flew aboard B-24 bombers as a navigator while stationed in Italy.

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.

John Paul Landis, a retired Marine Corps officer who had a second career as a civil engineer, died of pancreatic cancer June 9 at his Arnold home. He was 71. He was born and raised in Cumberland and graduated in 1953 from Virginia Military Institute with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He later earned a master's degree in the same field from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's in administration from George Washington University. He served in the Marines - including a stint in Vietnam - from 1957 until his retirement with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1979.

Richard P. Franke, a retired mechanical engineer and business owner who was a leader in the Engineering Society of Baltimore, died of complications related to diabetes and cancer Tuesday at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. The former Riderwood resident was 80. Born in Fort Wayne, Ind., he moved with his family to Baltimore in 1939 and graduated from Polytechnic Institute in 1943. After serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II, he earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Johns Hopkins University.

An open-air courtyard off Mount Vernon Place will be enclosed under a glass and steel roof as part of a $5 million plan to increase and upgrade the meeting space at Baltimore's historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. The Engineering Society of Baltimore, which owns and operates the mansion at 7-11 W. Mount Vernon Place, also wants to restore several of its "period" rooms, build an addition containing an elevator, restrooms, commercial-grade kitchen and barrier-free entrance, and possibly add upper-level guest rooms.

William P. Lentz, a retired consulting engineer and World War II veteran, died in his sleep Monday at his Roland Park home. He was 90. Mr. Lentz was born in Baltimore and raised in Ten Hills. He was a 1935 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1939. He worked for Eastman Kodak Co. until enlisting in the Army Signal Corps. Trained in radar, Mr. Lentz flew aboard B-24 bombers as a navigator while stationed in Italy.

John Paul Landis, a retired Marine Corps officer who had a second career as a civil engineer, died of pancreatic cancer June 9 at his Arnold home. He was 71. He was born and raised in Cumberland and graduated in 1953 from Virginia Military Institute with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He later earned a master's degree in the same field from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's in administration from George Washington University. He served in the Marines - including a stint in Vietnam - from 1957 until his retirement with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1979.

Dorothea M. Gray, a docent at a historic Mount Vernon Place home and a gardening enthusiast, died Tuesday of a stroke at her home in the Hampton section of Towson. She was 85. Born Dorothea Bates in Baltimore, she was raised in the Forest Park area and was a 1936 graduate of Forest Park High School. She was known as Dottie. She married architect William E. Gray in 1939, and ran his Charles Street business office. Her husband died in 1987. Mrs. Gray led tours of the Engineering Society of Baltimore - the former Garrett-Jacobs mansion - and was twice president of its women's auxiliary.