Gail

Gail B. O'Donovan, a community activist whose efforts resulted in the preservation of a historic African-American church in Ruxton, died of a heart attack Friday at her Towson home. She was 64. "She was Ruxton's answer to Anne St. Clair Wright, the lady who saved Annapolis. She had a very high energy level and was a community activist in a community where such activism is a fairly new phenomenon," said Joseph M. Coale III, a Ruxton resident, preservationist and writer. Mrs. O'Donovan exhibited a fearlessness and determination when it came to dealing with public officials or developers over issues ranging from zoning to covenants to historic preservation.

On May 7, 2004, GAIL BREWINGTON O'DONOVAN, beloved wife of Dr. Charles O'Donovan, III, devoted mother of Charles O'Donovan, V and E. Patrick O'Donovan, dear sister of Lynn B. Havard and Sue B. Schier, grandmother of Katherine Chase O'Donovan and Eliza Fitzgerald O'Donovan. Services to be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Helen B. Spurrier Scholarship Fund at the Roland Park Country School for Girls, 5204 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210.

On April 16, 2004, GAIL B. HARE of Columbia, beloved wife of Thomas T. Hare, loving mother of Erin E. Hare and Burke A.E. Hare, dear sister of Robert J. Bloch and Elizabeth A. Hammond. Family will receive friends, Sunday, 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M. at HARRY H. WITZKE'S FAMILY FUNERAL HOME INC., 4112 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City, in lieu of flowers donations in memory of Gail may be made to CHI Centers Inc., 10501 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20903.

The Rev. Aletha Gail Cohen, a pastor of an Assembly of God church in West Baltimore, died Jan. 30 of a stroke at University of Maryland Medical Center. The Owings Mills resident was 52. Born in Baltimore and raised in Sandtown-Winchester, Aletha Gail Costin was a 1970 Forest Park High School graduate. She attended the University of Maryland, College Park in the 1970s and returned to the school and received her diploma last year, earning a bachelor's degree in family studies. In the 1970s she sold encyclopedias in Randallstown and in other neighborhoods.

On January 29, 2004 F. GAIL O'DEA (nee Simmons) beloved wife of Thomas J. O'Dea, Sr.; loving mother of Thomas Jr., Denise Gail, Timothy and Katherine; loving mother-in-law of Catherine and Cheryl; loving grandmother of Thomas III, Catherine Jo, Melissa, Sara, Timothy, Daniel, Stephanie, Celine, Sean, Katherine Gail and the late Theresa; loving great-grandmother of Thomas IV; beloved sister of Donna, Junior and James. Friends may call at the HUBBARD FUNERAL HOME, INC., 4107 Wilkens Avenue on Saturday from 6 to 9 and Sunday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. at St. Augustine Catholic Church, 5976 Old Washington Road, Elkridge.

Patricia Gail Andrew, who helped run her family's Anne Arundel County restaurants, died of a heart attack Tuesday at her Moravian Falls, N.C., home, where she moved in 1986. The former Glen Burnie resident was 58. Born in Baltimore and raised in Pimlico, she was a 1962 graduate of Mount St. Agnes High School, where she later attended college. She kept the books and ran the personnel department of several family-owned businesses, including the Bon-Fire Drive In in Gambrills and Lancer's Pub in Linthicum.

Margaret Gail, a swimmer once known as the "singing mermaid," died of congestive heart failure Oct. 3 at Stella Maris Hospice. The Timonium resident was 85. Born in Baltimore and raised on Pimlico Road in Mount Washington, the former Margaret Russell was a 1939 graduate of Western High School. By her teens, she was a Red Cross lifesaving examiner. She also taught swimming at the city's Patterson and Gwynns Falls park pools. "She was a born swimmer," said her sister, Maureen Skinner of Timonium.