Headmistress

Sister Mary Doris Ann Gentry, a former Notre Dame Preparatory School headmistress who co-founded the Caroline Center in East Baltimore, died of a stroke Saturday at Sinai Hospital. She was 78. Born Doris Ann Gentry in Baltimore and raised in Ednor Gardens, she attended Blessed Sacrament Parochial School and was a 1947 Institute of Notre Dame graduate. She earned a degree at the College of Notre Dame and had master's degrees in mathematics from the Catholic University of America and school administration from Loyola College.

Barbara Chase, who worked to bring more cultural and racial diversity to Bryn Mawr School in her 14 years as headmistress, will leave in June to become the first woman to lead the elite Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.Mrs. Chase, 48, will succeed Donald W. McNemar as Phillips' headmaster, officials at the schools announced yesterday. Her selection as headmistress of the 217-year-old independent boarding school ends a 10-month international search.In a statement, David M. Underwood, chairman of Phillips' search committee and president of the school's trustees, showered Mrs. Chase with praise.

Like the school colors of blue and white, Sister Helen Marie Duffy has worn well at Notre Dame Preparatory School.As biology teacher, boarding mistress and role model, she has woven herself through the fabric of the girls' school for 59 years, her entire religious life. An administrator since 1970 and headmistress since 1979, she has established the Towson school's reputation for academic excellence, fostered what she sees as a need for "refinement" among young women and been a loving -- and demanding -- presence in the lives of more than 5,000 graduates.

The headmistress' call for tolerance of homosexuality at a Baltimore County private school for girls has sparked a controversy that led to an emotional meeting with 150 parents yesterday.Parents at St. Paul's School for Girls in Brooklandville met with Headmistress Evelyn A. Flory for 90 minutes to discuss remarks she made that upset at least a dozen parents."These are our children," said Margaret Grasmick of Phoenix, a mother who is considering removing her ninth-grader from St. Paul's. "It is not the school's place to coach our children in how to view sexual orientation."

A former headmistress of St. Paul's School for Girls and a Baltimore native will become the interim head of Friends School in North Baltimore starting July 1. Lila B. Lohr, 56, who left St. Paul's in 1995 to take a job as head of the Princeton Day School in Princeton, N.J., will replace Jon M. Harris, who will leave at the end of the school year. "We are delighted to have Lila Lohr join the school community as interim head," said Kevin Carnell, chairman of Friends' board of trustees. "Her proven leadership, administrative expertise and outstanding communications skills have earned her the respect of colleagues and opinion leaders in the local and independent school communities."

Sister Helen Marie Duffy, a retired headmistress of Notre Dame Preparatory School who demonstrated compassion, courage and selflessness to thousands of students during her six decades at the school, died Friday at age 87. She died at Villa Assumpta, the mother house for retired School Sisters of Notre Dame, of complications from a fall she suffered Aug. 13. Sister Helen Marie was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. As a teen-ager, she taught impoverished children in...

The chairman of the board of trustees of Oldfields School in Glencoe was among five men killed in a midair collision of two private planes Saturday near Atlanta.Marion H. "Chip" Allen, an Atlanta attorney, had served on the private girls' school board since 1991. He was chairman this year and was head of the search committee that chose a new headmistress last year.The 131-year-old boarding and day school has 190 students in grades eight through 12. Students are from 28 states and 12 foreign countries.

New positionsWolk Press Inc., a printing company in Woodlawn, named Jay K. Goldscher president and chief executive officer, Robert A. Linton executive vice president, and Robert A. Linton executive vice president. Wolk Press also elected Daniel Katz chairman of the board and LeRoy E. Wolk chairman of the board emeritus. Mr. Katz is the former president and chief executive officer of the printing company, and Mr. Wolk is the former chairman of the board for Wolk Press Inc.Arnold Packer was named senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies in Baltimore.

Edith Gentry insists she changes nothing for the sake of change.That's for sure.Freshly graduated from college in 1947, she started the Cedarcroft School in North Baltimore with money borrowed from her accountant father. A half-century later at 72, she's still the headmistress, and little has changed at the preschool for children 3 to 6.The 70 youngsters and their nine teachers still gather at 9: 15 a.m. for opening exercises heavily flavored with patriotism. Gentry sits at the piano, accompanying the children in "America" and "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue" as a color guard of tots circles the room bearing American, Maryland and school flags.

Caroline G. Ober, first athletic director at St. Paul's School for Girls and a former Roland Park resident, died April 5 of complications from a stroke at the Blakehurst retirement community in Towson. She was 90. The daughter of the manager of the Gary Manufacturing Co., which produced cotton duck cloth, and a homemaker, Caroline Fischer Gary was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. Mrs. Ober attended Bryn Mawr School and graduated in 1939 from Garrison Forest School.