Gwynn Oak

On June 29, 2007, SARAH M. KEATING; devoted mother of Lancelot Keating. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Thursday, after 8:30 AM. The family will receive friends Friday, at Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue at 10:00 AM with Funeral Service to follow at 10:30 AM.

On June 29, 2007, SARAH M. KEATING; devoted wife of Lancelot Keating. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Thursday, after 8:30 AM. The family will receive friends Friday, at Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue at 10:00 AM with Funeral Service to follow at 10:30 AM.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Baltimore CityNorthwestern DistrictCutting: Bernard Strange, 26, of the 3100 block of Milford Ave., was in critical condition yesterday at Sinai Hospital after a man attacked him in the 3600 block of Gwynn Oak Ave. near Liberty Heights Avenue about 9 p.m. Wednesday, slashing the right side of his neck with a broken beer bottle. Strange fled to a nearby Amoco service station, where a motorist getting gas tried to stop the bleeding.

A little after 1 p.m. on Aug. 28, 1963, Charles Langley arrived at Gwynn Oak Amusement Park with his baby daughter. The 28-year-old black clerk at the nearby Social Security Administration did not belong to a civil rights organization. He had never participated in the many protests at Gwynn Oak. And he certainly had not expected to find a group of reporters eager to record this family outing.But he was smothered by attention as he strolled through the amusement park. After visiting various arcades and looking at the rides, Langley put Sharon on the merry-go-round.

THURSDAY, the Fourth of July, 1963, started out like every other Independence Day in Baltimore. Parades, cookouts, ballgames, fireworks and patriotic speeches were scheduled. The weather was a pleasant 78 degrees. Baltimore was on holiday.But not everybody was taking one. Before the day was over, Baltimore would be a changed city, and a new chapter in the history of Baltimore's black community would be written.About noon, about 300 people assembled at Metropolitan United Methodist Church at 1121 W. Lanvale St. The event had been organized by the local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, Maryland Council of Churches and the New York headquarters of Campus Americans for Democratic Action.

"Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine," reads the Maryland State Seal, carrying the motto of its founders, the Calvert family: "Manly deeds, womanly voices."Extraordinary advice that, for while boldness and passion may fuel our actions, often we must temper our intensity with measured, disciplined, decorous speech if our inner vision is ever to be made real."Manly Deeds, Womanly Voices: Activism, Empowerment and Change in the Pre-Civil Rights Period, 1895-1963," a highly informative and touching exhibit just opened at the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis, does a masterful job of showing us that this duality of voices and deeds was an underlying theme of the African-American experience for much of our century.

Two-part rights series gave history lesson on local struggleI want to express my appreciation for the excellent two-part article on "Justice at Gwynn Oak" (Aug. 23-24). Not being a Baltimore native, it gave me insight into what citizens in this community went through in the 1960s.Looking carefully at the list of those who were arrested, I was pleased to see my predecessor's name and also the name of a current member of our Quaker Meeting, Ann Miller. I called Ann to congratulate and thank her for her involvement.

Linell Smith, a Sun feature writer, has won one of two honorable mentions in the annual A.D. Emmart Awards for her stories on the 35th anniversary of Gwynn Oak Park's desegregation.The top prize of $1,000 went to Margaret Guroff, managing editor of Baltimore magazine, for a December 1997 story about a woman caring for her developmentally disabled brothers after their mother's death. Another honorable mention, worth $250, went to writer Wyl S. Hilton, a former Baltimore magazine writer, for a profile of artist Raoul Middleman.

People were too busy riding the Wild Mouse and dancing at the Dixie Ballroom at the old Gwynn Oak Amusement Park to notice Powhatan Hill.But across the street from the now vanished park is a charming neighborhood of modest houses nestled in a hill thick with tall trees and lush landscaping. For more than 50 years, Powhatan Hill watched over the annual German Day Festivals and Report Card Days when children with good grades rode the rides for free."People always asked us if we minded living across the street from the park," said Irene Yost, "but we never did, maybe because we're slightly around the bend from it."

Masterful articles are latest tribute to civil rights leadersYour editors and Linell Smith, whose series chronicled so caringly the lifting of Gwynn Oak's racial barriers, are to be commended for a masterfully thorough job ("Justice at Gwynn Oak," Aug. 23-24).Lest some readers get the impression that the selfless work of this movement's activists went unrecognized before this, it should be known that a memorable tribute was paid to one of them 18 years ago. That day, the Rev. Chester Wickwire was honored by a large group of his friends and supporters for his lifelong contributions to social justice.

On October 7, 2009, ALBERTINE GRAHAM. Survived by her daughter, Hermione C. Graham. The family will receive friends on Sunday, October 11, from 1 to 5 P.M., at the family owned and operated Howell Funeral Home, 4600 Liberty Heights Avenue. The funeral service will be held on Monday, October 12. Wake 10:30 A.M. Funeral service 11 A.M., at Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue. The family suggest a memorial gift be forwarded to the Alzheimer's Association, 1850 York Road, Suite D, Timonium, MD, 21093.

BRIAN DORCH PARRISH born November 30, 1946, died August 7, 2009. The family will receive friends at the family owned and operated Howell Funeral Home, on Thursday August 13th 3 to 7:30 PM. The wake will beheld on Friday August 14th 11 AM at the Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue, with the funeral service to follow at 11:30. Interment Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery. The family is receiving friends at 4502 Wentworth Road.

On June 3, 2009, SHIRLEY TUCKER MEWBORN. Survived by loving husband Roosevelt; one daughter, Roslyn Mewborn-Cottman; two grandchildren; one sister Paulette Hampton and a host of other relatives and friends. On Wednesday friends may call at the WILLIAM C. BROWN COMMUNITY FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 1206 W. North Avenue from 3 to 7 P.M. On Thursday, funeral services will be held at Gwynn Oak U.M.C., 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue. Wake 10:30 A.M. Funeral 11.A.M. Interment Garrison Forest Veteran Cemetery.

On April 13, 2009, ELEANOR; devoted wife of Mr. James Perkins; beloved mother of Brenda Latham. The family will receive friends for a memorial service on Tuesday at the Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5015 Gwynn Oak Avenue at 10 A.M with service to follow at 10:30. Professional services entrusted to the family owned March Fu

On March 17, 2009, THELMA M. SMITH, born March 9, 1928. A Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, March 24 at Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue. The family will be receiving friends on Sunday, March 22 thru Tuesday, March 24 at 4502 Wentworth Road, Baltimore, MD 21207. Inquiries: 410-664-6800.

On October 25, 2008 JAMES NATHANIEL beloved husband of Jean Cooper. Friends may visit the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Thursday after 8:30 a.m. where the family will receive friends from 5 until 7 p.m. The family will also receive friends on Friday at Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue at 10 a.m. followed by funeral services at 10:30 a.m.

On August 30, 2008, ELIZABETH BETHEA. Friends may visit the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERL HOME WEST, INC., on Wednesday after 8:30 A.M., where the family will receive friends on Thursday at 10:30 A.M. at Gwynn Oak U.M. Church, 5020 Gwynn Oak Avenue. Funeral services will follow at 11 A.M.

2 teens injured in Gwynn Oak fire Two teenagers were treated for minor injuries after a fire damaged a rowhouse in the 7100 block of N. Alter St. in Gwynn Oak yesterday afternoon, Baltimore County fire officials said. The fire began about 12:45 p.m. in a bedroom where a 14-year-old boy trying to light a candle accidentally ignited bedding, said Elise Armacost, a Fire Department spokeswoman. The fire extended to two homes on either side of the house, she said. The 14-year-old boy and his 13-year-old sister left the house and were taken to Northwest Hospital Center for treatment, she said.

A convicted rapist from Baltimore County was convicted yesterday of raping a 26-year-old woman who was accosted outside a Linthicum nightclub almost two decades ago. Wendell Keys, 40, of Gwynn Oak was convicted of first- and second-degree rape and false imprisonment in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court for the 1990 rape. The jury acquitted Keys on kidnapping and conspiracy charges. He could be sentenced to up to life in prison. Keys was linked to the crime in 2005 through the state's DNA database and was indicted last year.

The Rev. James Edward Parsons Sr., former pastor of Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, died of Alzheimer's disease April 25 at his Northwest Baltimore home. He was 82. Mr. Parsons was born in Baltimore and raised on Loretta Avenue. He was a 1943 graduate of Carver Vocational-Technical High School and served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946. Mr. Parsons worked for a number of years for the City Wide Management Co. before deciding to pursue a career in the ministry. He took religious courses at Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., and with the Washington Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, family members said.