First Lady

Ellen Ingram Fretterd, who was known as the "first lady" of the Maryland National Guard, died of cancer Dec. 3 at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The Federalsburg resident was 75. Born Ellen Ingram in Pike, W.Va., and raised in Seaford, Del., she was a graduate of Seaford High School. She earned an associate's degree from Chesapeake College and a bachelor of arts from what was then Salisbury State College. In 1988 then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer appointed her to the school's board of visitors.

The wife of former Gov. Harry Hughes died in Denton early Wednesday morning after suffering for years from Parkinson's disease, according to the governor's campaign manager. Patricia Hughes was 79. Joseph Coale, who worked on Mr. Hughes' staff in the 1980s and served as his campaign manager in 1978 and 1982, called Mrs. Hughes a strong-willed woman who counseled the governor on a variety of topics. "She was always willing to provide" advice, Mr. Coale said. "Her standards were high, and she strove for perfection."

Washington -- I would not want to be Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech writer for her trip to the United Nations Conference in Beijing.The reason is those last two words: ''in Beijing'' -- as in China, where women are subject to coerced abortion and state monitoring of their menstrual periods, all in the interest of population control for the future of the glorious revolution. China, whose one-child policy and a general social preference for boys has led to the abortion of female fetuses.China, which recently was cited by the activist group Human Rights in China for harboring rampant domestic violence against women, for forcing painful late abortions and compulsory sterilizations to adhere to the one-child policy and for advancing a new market-based economy in which women are last hired and first fired.

BOSTON -- So it comes down to Bill and Hillary, man and wife, president and first lady, father and mother.Since January, when the name Monica Lewinsky came out of nowhere, Americans have repeatedly said, "If it's just sex, it's their problem." Now it is their problem. Her problem.All through this tawdry affair, there was one jury to whom the president couldn't bear to tell the truth. Not the 23-member grand jury, but the two-member mini-jury of wife and child. Now the president, husband and father says, "I intend to reclaim my family life."

Mathilde B. "Mimi" Lee, who as the wife of Lt. Gov. Blair Lee III eschewed the political pomp and circumstance of Annapolis for the fields and woods where she could hike, canoe and swim, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at Laurel Regional Hospital. The Silver Spring resident was 91. Mathilde Boal was named for her paternal grandmother, who was related to Christopher Columbus. Her father, Pierre de Lagarde Boal, was an American diplomat who had served as ambassador to Nicaragua and Bolivia.

In a recent letter to The Sun, Marge Griffith of Pasadena recalled the fear and anxiety she felt as a 7-year-old following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She wrote: "The weeks that followed were traumatic and filled with insecurities. At that time, the first lady did not make an appearance or use the media to tell people to talk to their children and reassure them that everything would be all right." This isn't entirely true. For years, Eleanor Roosevelt had written My Day, a daily newspaper column that was published in many of the nation's papers, including The Evening Sun. A woman of indefatigable energy, Roosevelt also turned out a monthly magazine feature, wrote books in addition to lecturing widely and was probably the first first lady to maintain such a vigorous globe-trotting schedule.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will visit New Windsor's Brethren Service Center tomorrow to watch as relief supplies donated by American children are prepared for shipment to Afghanistan. In response to the president's plea to help the children of Afghanistan, American children have raised $1.5 million, funds that have paid for tents, jackets and gift boxes filled with essentials and treats. "It is the first shipment to go from the U.S. as a result of the dollars-for-Afghanistan campaign, which President Bush urged children to contribute to," said Leslie VanSant, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, which is handling the children's effort.

MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- As Hillary Rodham Clinton brought her health care message to Joe and Peg Stephens' alfalfa and soybean farm last week, the two dozen folks in denim and boots invited to the barnyard chat were so polite, so downright bashful, they needed more coaxing than pre-harvest crops.But down the road a piece at Club Lunch, where Mrs. Clinton's visit had breakfast regulars chewing over health care reform with their biscuits and gravy, the debate was in full bloom."She has no comprehension about how small businesses work, how I'm going to have to eliminate one-third of my employees with her health care plan," said Robert Kelly, whose family has run a photography studio for 25 years.

The Republican Women's Club of Carroll County and a few male guests who gathered last week in Eldersburg talked politics, sipped punch and munched on star-shaped cookies coated with red, white and blue sprinkles. But the main item on their agenda was an imminent phone call. First lady Laura Bush would be "calling with a personal message," announced Gerrye Johnston, party hostess and the club's membership committee chairwoman. "This is a phenomenal blessing for us," Johnston said. That the one small party with about 15 guests was among 7,000 other groups sharing in the conversation did not dampen their enthusiasm.