Gardenville

Anna J. White, 81, director of recreation centerAnna J. White, former longtime director of the Gardenville Recreation Center, died of arteriosclerosis Feb. 18 at Fairhaven Retirement Community in Sykesville. She was 81.A longtime Hamilton resident who later moved to Towson, she moved to the retirement home in 1994.Mrs. White began working for the Baltimore Department of Recreation in 1948 and was the first director of the Gardenville center on Hazelwood Avenue when it opened in 1957.For nearly 30 years, until her retirement in the mid-1980s, Mrs. White was known as the "First Lady of Gardenville Rec."

Charles Howard Polley, a grocer in Northeast Baltimore for many years, died Saturday of complications of Alzheimer's disease. The Overlea resident was 82.Mr. Polley entered the grocery business in 1929 when he left parochial school at the age of 16 to help support his family. He retired in 1978, when he closed Polley's Foodstore on Asbury Avenue in Gardenville.He opened his first store during the 1930s on Belair Road, which he sold when he joined the Army during World War II.After being discharged with the rank of corporal, he opened a store at Madison and Milton avenues, which he operated until 1956 when he opened the Asbury Avenue store.

Services for Theresa Cornelia Sachs Darney, a retired chocolate dipper who worked at candy factories around Baltimore, will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Lassahn Funeral Home, Belair Road in Overlea.Mrs. Darney, who spent most of her life in the Gardenville area, died in her sleep Tuesday.Born shortly after midnight Jan. 1, 1900, the former Theresa Cornelia Sachs was the first baby girl to be born in Baltimore that year.She attended public school No. 99 at North Avenue and Washington Street before leaving school in the seventh grade to work for the Guths Candy Factory on Lombard Street.

It was late in the game, and neither team was gaining any ground. Then Gardenville Elementary School took a wrong turn at Kiev, and Hamilton Elementary surged to victory in the Indian Ocean.So went the final minutes yesterday in the second Baltimore Globetrotters competition, when 144 city fifth-graders proved they knew their way around the world.Unlike last week's National Geography Bee, the Globetrotters contest stresses map skills over memorization. If the students know where to look, they can easily find the answers in the 30 seconds allotted.

William T. Reynolds, 31, construction superintendentWilliam Timothy Reynolds, a general superintendent for a construction company, died of brain cancer July 25 at Stella Maris Hospice. The Timonium resident was 31.Known as Tim, Mr. Reynolds began his career while in college, working summers as a laborer at Casper Colosimo & Son Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company that specializes in underground utility construction. He was promoted to project coordinator and moved to Baltimore in 1989.In 1994, he was appointed general superintendent in charge of Colosimo's Baltimore operations and managed projects for such clients as Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Bell Atlantic.

On November 9, 2006, CHARLES A. (Chuck) BETKEY, husband of Theodora Oechsler Betkey, departed this life. He was the loving father of Donna Valenta and grandfather of Katie and Stephanie Valenta. He is also survived by his blended family for whom he cared deeply; Donald M. Schell and daughter Hayley, Deborah A. Tipton, and daughters Jaime Gettings and Raven Radel and her daughters Michelle and Valerie. Friends may call at CAFA (Cremations and Funeral Alternatives) 8717 Green Pastures Drive (off Joppa Road)

Julie L. Martin Smith, a homemaker and volunteer, died Tuesday of cancer at her home in Gardenville. She was 67.She spent her entire life at the Plainfield Avenue house where she was reared. She was known throughout her neighborhood for her kindness and concern for the elderly and neighbors."She would shovel snow and drive senior citizens to the store and their appointments," said a daughter, Sister Pat Smith, O.S.F., of Aston, Pa. "She knew everyone in Gardenville and was constantly doing for others.

Margaret M. "Marge" Cannington, a retired secretary and avid boater and dancer, died of Alzheimer's disease May 15 at an assisted-living facility in Jennersville, Pa. The former longtime Gardenville resident was 88. Margaret Mary Tenley was born in Baltimore and raised on Washington Street. After graduating from Eastern High School in 1939, she went to work as a secretary at the old Glenn L. Martin Co. plant in Middle River. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was married to Gordon Eugene "Ken" Cannington, a Marine.

Thomas Method Holland, who worked for 40 years as a display artist for Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., died of cancer Wednesday at his Middle River home. He was 78 and had formerly lived in Gardenville. Mr. Holland was born and raised on East Oliver Street in Baltimore. He left City College and enlisted in the Army, where he was a paratrooper with the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment. He fought at the Battle of the Bulge, and his decorations included a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. During the war, he drew many cartoons published in Yank magazine.

Sister Margaret Crucifixa McDonald, a retired parochial school teacher, died of cardiovascular disease March 29 at her order's motherhouse in Aston, Pa. She was 93. Born in Philadelphia, she received the name Sister Margaret Crucifixa after joining the Sisters of St. Francis in 1933. She earned a bachelor's degree from what is now Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., and a master's degree in business education from Catholic University of America. After teaching in Wilmington, Del., she moved to Towson in 1943 and joined the faculty of the Immaculate Conception parochial school.