Funeral Services

Dennis Thomas Baranowski, a dockside terminal worker who was a skilled billiards player, died of a suspected diabetic seizure April 16 at his Dundalk home. He was 40. Born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown, he was a 1989 Patterson High School graduate. He then joined the Marine Corps and spent time on ships in the Persian Gulf and in many other posts. In 1996, he received a certificate in graphics and animation from the ITT Technical Institute. He also handled cargo for the Rukert Terminals and was a Fells Point bartender.

Funeral services were held Wednesday for Michael Carter, a longtime Baltimore city schools advocate whose outspokeness landed him the position in the administration of CEO Andres Alonso as the director of the district's parent and community engagement office.  We wrote an obituary last week on Carter, who lost his battle with cancer last week, which included solemn, but colorful remarks and remembrances from a host of city school officials and...

Mary Elizabeth "Becky" Lipp, a homemaker who studied genealogy, died of pneumonia March 24 at the Charlestown Retirement Community. She was 101 and had lived in Govans. She was born Mary Elizabeth Barrett while her mother was traveling on a railroad train in Wilmington, Del. She was raised on a family farm in Fauquier County, Va., and moved to Baltimore as a young woman. She lived with cousins on Abell Avenue and worked nearby at the old Crown Five and Ten Cent Store on Greenmount Avenue in Waverly.

Funeral services for Maj. Robert J. Marchanti II, an Army National Guard officer killed Feb. 25 in Afghanistan, are set for today at Trinity Assembly of God Church in Lutherville. The 48-year-old major left his Gardenville home in September on his first deployment to the war-torn country. He had been working on training programs with the Afghan national police, when he and Lt. Col. John D. Loftis of Kentucky were shot to death inside the National Police Coordination Center, a ministry building in the heart of Kabul, the nation's capital.

Services are set for Tuesday, Feb. 28, for Randall P. Worthington Sr., a prominent Harford County businessman and a member of the Harford County Liquor Control Board, who was killed in an accidental shooting Wednesday morning. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church at 224 N. Main St. in Bel Air. Interment, which will be private, will be at Darlington Cemetery. There won't be any visitation. Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Harford County Sheriff's Office received a call for an unattended death.

Ernest R. "Ernie" Crapster III, a retired pressman who enjoyed gardening and boating, died Saturday of lung and heart failure at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. The longtime Riva resident was 67. The son of a baking company manager and a homemaker, Ernest Ridgley Crapster III was born in Baltimore, and when he was 7 moved with his family to Glen Burnie. After graduating in 1964 from Glen Burnie High School, Mr. Crapster took courses at Anne Arundel Community College.

Harry Craig "Frog" Snyder, a retired Baltimore County firefighter who was also a model railroad buff, died Feb. 8 at his Upperco home. He was 59. "We are waiting for the results of an autopsy for the cause of death," said his wife of 32 years, the former Frances E. Bandel. The son of a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad chief mechanic and an educator, Mr. Snyder was born in Baltimore and raised in Pikesville. After graduating from Milford Mill High School in 1970, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1974 from the University of Baltimore.

John G. "Gil" Steinkraus, a retired financial manager and golfer, died Feb. 7 of cancer at Tate Chesapeake Hospice House in Linthicum. The longtime Arnold resident was 90. The son of factory workers, John Gilbert Steinkraus was born and raised in Brooklyn Park. He was a 1940 graduate of Glen Burnie High School. During World War II, he served in the infantry for two years. After the war, he earned a bachelor's degree on the GI Bill of Right in 1951 from the University of Maryland.

Katharine S. Lenfestey, a homemaker and avid gardener, died Feb. 6 from complications of a stroke at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The former Cedarcroft resident was 96. The former Katharine Schlemm was born in Brookline, Mass., and after the death of her parents, was raised by relatives in Duxbury, Mass. After earning a bachelor's degree in 1936 from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., she studied in Germany. "She was an early feminist and adventurer. Her flying lessons were cut short by the onset of World War II," said her daughter, Marion W. Bernard, who lives in Waterville, Ohio.

Margaret Miller Ekin, a homemaker and bookkeeper who had lived in Catonsville, died Feb. 2 of heart failure at Austell Presbyterian Village in Austell, Ga. She was 98. The daughter of farmers, Anna Margaret Miller, who did not use her first name, was born and raised in Miller's Corner in Howard County. She was a graduate of Ellicott City High School. During the Depression, she worked as a bookkeeper for a decade at the old Miller Chevrolet in Ellicott City, which had been established by one of her brothers.