Housekeeper

Julia M. Johnson, a retired housekeeper and longtime Orioles fan, died Saturday of heart failure at St. Agnes Hospital. She was 86. Julia Mae Pettigrew was born and raised in Eutawville, S.C., where she graduated from public schools. In 1941, she came to Baltimore and worked as a waitress at the Oriole Cafeteria and later as a laborer for Cat's Paw Rubber Co. From the 1950s until retiring in 1980, Mrs. Johnson was a housekeeper for a Catonsville family. For many years, Mrs. Johnson was a member of Friendship Baptist Church in South Baltimore, and in the 1960s, she joined Mount Hebron Baptist Church.

A pair posing as deliverymen forced their way into a Green Spring Valley home yesterday, tied up a housekeeper and 4-year-old boy, ransacked the house and stole valuables, Baltimore County police said.The home invasion occurred at about 2: 30 p.m. yesterday in the 3200 block of Caves Road at the home of Jill A. Kolodner and her husband, David Duke. Neither Kolodner nor Duke were home at the time of the robbery, police said.Police spokesman Bill Toohey said the men tied up the unidentified housekeeper and the child and left them in a bathroom while they looked for valuables.

Even Noel Coward aficionados have to concede "Present Laughter" is not his best play. But a slick, sophisticated portrayal of the title character -- a stage idol modeled after Coward himself -- can make you feel you're in the presence of the master.On opening night, however, the production at the Vagabond Players reinforced the play's weaknesses. And though lead actor Mark E. Campion can certainly look debonair -- and on many occasions has shown he can act it as well -- his first-night performance lacked the self-assurance essential to the role.

New positionsSerio to manage sales at Admiral Fell InnAdmiral Fell Inn appointed Sherrolynn Serio as sales manager and Iwona Diaz as executive housekeeper.Serio, a Pasadena resident who was formerly with the BWI Marriott, will oversee corporate, group and association sales. Diaz will manage the inn's housekeeping staff and be responsible for quality control. Formerly an executive housekeeper with Hampton Inns, she has more than 20 years' experience in hotel housekeeping.Port City Press names Queen to media positionPort City Press appointed Kenneth E. Queen II as new media technical support representative for its new media services program.

Anne Arundel County police surrounded a Motel 6 in North Linthicum late yesterday morning after a housekeeper noticed wires, batteries and switches that appeared to be a bomb on a bed in a room.County police arrived at the motel in the 5100 block of Raynor Ave. about 11:30 a.m. and evacuated guests in rooms near the third-floor corner room. They tried unsuccessfully to contact the man staying in the room.The man, whom police would not identify, took the telephone in the room off the hook.

It was only the distress of Tracor that prevented Admiral Inman from paying his housekeeper's Social Security taxes.The good news is that Baltimore has a new police commissioner. The bad news is that a great deal is going to be expected of him.

The changes made during the pre-Broadway run of Israel fTC Horovitz's "Park Your Car in Harvard Yard" become apparent even before the play begins -- there is a pre-curtain announcement that the running time is 1 hour and 45 minutes, and there will be no intermission.This is a full hour shorter than the production Mechanic Theatre audiences saw three weeks ago when "Park Your Car" began its one-month run. In other words, 45 minutes, as well as the 15-minute intermission, have been trimmed from this story of the uneasy relationship between a retired high school teacher (Jason Robards)

THE BALTIMORE Center for the Performing Arts has added a pre-Broadway tryout and a musical revival to the 1991-92 subscription season.Israel Horovitz's new play, "Park Your Car in Harvard Yard," will open Oct. 1 and play through Oct. 27 at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre prior to its Broadway engagement. The two-personplay will star Jason Robards and Judith Ivey. Zoe Caldwell is directing the play, billed as touchingly funny.Set in Gloucester, Mass., the story focuses on the relationship between a retired high school music appreciation and English literature teacher (Robards)

Services for Nannie Duckett, a retired companion and housekeeper who was 102, will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1301 Druid Hill Ave.Ms. Duckett died Sunday at her home on Colborne Road after a short illness.She retired 20 years ago after working as a companion, and earlier as a housekeeper, for many years.A native of Washington who was raised in the Baltimore area, she spoke two years ago at Howard University on life at the age of 100.She was the oldest member of the Bethel A.M.E.

Sarah Elaine Adams, a retired school custodian and housekeeper, died Friday of cancer at her home on Abbotston Street.Services for Mrs. Adams, who was 74, were held yesterday at the Most Worshipful Zerubbabel Masonic Grand Lodge.She retired in 1988 after 30 years as a housekeeper for a Baltimore family. Earlier, she was a school custodian.The former Sarah Elaine Gatewood was born and reared in Dorsey.Her husband, Charles Floyd Adams, a retired construction foreman, died in 1989. After his death, Mrs. Adams, who had lived on Carrollton Avenue for many years, moved for a time to Bridgeton, N.J.She is survived by three daughters, Sarah Satterfield and Hattie Washington, both of Baltimore, and Hazel McCoy of Bridgeton; three sons, the Rev. Marion Adams and Greer Tripp, both of Baltimore, and Theodore Kelley of Bridgeton; a sister, Emma Jackson of Baltimore; 17 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Virginia C. Smith, who had worked as a housekeeper for 50 years and was a noted cook, died Aug. 13 of Alzheimer's disease at Future Care Homewood nursing home in Charles Village. She was 106. Virginia Clayton was born and raised in Lancaster County, Va., where she attended public schools until the sixth grade. She moved to Baltimore in the early 1920s and began working as a housekeeper. She retired in the 1970s. Among her many accomplishments, said family members, Mrs. Smith was an excellent seamstress, plasterer and painter.

Florence E. Johnson, a retired housekeeper who enjoyed dancing, died Thursday in her sleep at her daughter's West Baltimore home. She was 102. Born Florence Elizabeth Rogers in Carroll County, she attended Carroll County and Baltimore public schools before going to work as a housekeeper in 1923. Her daughter, Elaine Paul, recalled her mother's exceptional skills as a demanding housekeeper and her financial acumen. "She took exceptional care of her children and home and did not believe in owing anyone anything but love," Mrs. Paul said.

Carrie Bell Henry, a retired housekeeper who enjoyed entertaining family and friends with her Southern-style cooking, died in her sleep Jan. 14 at her West North Avenue home. She was 102. "She would have celebrated her 103rd birthday on Feb. 12," said her sister, Henrietta Brown of Baltimore. Carrie Bell Lowery was born and raised in Chesterfield, S.C. She was 15 when she moved with her family to Baltimore in 1921. She attended city public schools until she left to go to work as a housekeeper.

Eunice W. Spears, a retired housekeeper and longtime member of Faith Baptist Church, died of cancer Sept. 24 at Keswick Multi-Care Center. She was 91. Eunice Wearing, the daughter of sharecroppers, was born in Florence County, S.C., the youngest of 12 children. She was educated in the public schools of Florence County and later moved to the town of Florence, S.C., where she began her career as a housekeeper and cook. After marrying Wade Spears in 1942, the couple moved to Baltimore, where her husband worked as a painter for the Patapsco & Back River Railroad Co., a Bethlehem Steel Corp.

Ethel R. Green, a former hospital housekeeper and active church member, died Saturday of brain cancer at Future Care North Point. The former longtime Turners Station resident was 62. Ethel Ree Green was born in Jamestown, S.C., and moved to Turners Station with her family. She attended Sollers Point High School and went to work in the fabrication shop at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point shipyard. She worked for about a decade in housekeeping at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center until retiring on a medical disability in 1997.

Mary E. Gales, a retired cook and housekeeper, died of a heart attack Feb. 16 at Harbor Hospital. The Linthicum resident was 77. Mary Etta Dailey was born at home and raised in Dorsey. She attended Anne Arundel County public schools. A self-taught cook, she worked in the kitchen of the old General Electric Co. facility in Columbia during the 1970s. She was a housekeeper at the Red Roof Inn in Linthicum for eight years before she retired in the 1990s. "She loved cooking and entertaining her family and friends.

Jannie L. Campbell, a retired factory worker and housekeeper, died in her sleep Saturday at Keswick Multi-Care Center. She was 85. Jannie Lue Terry was born and raised in Hodges, S.C. After graduating from high school in 1940, she moved to Baltimore with a sister. Mrs. Campbell worked at W.E. Hooper and later was a housekeeper for several decades before retiring in the early 1980s. The longtime Rogers Avenue resident, who had moved to Keswick last year, was a member for 67 years of Gillis Memorial Christian Community Church, where she co-founded several groups, including Just Us Girls and the Friendly Group.

Julia M. Johnson, a retired housekeeper and longtime Orioles fan, died Saturday of heart failure at St. Agnes Hospital. She was 86. Julia Mae Pettigrew was born and raised in Eutawville, S.C., where she graduated from public schools. In 1941, she came to Baltimore and worked as a waitress at the Oriole Cafeteria and later as a laborer for Cat's Paw Rubber Co. From the 1950s until retiring in 1980, Mrs. Johnson was a housekeeper for a Catonsville family. For many years, Mrs. Johnson was a member of Friendship Baptist Church in South Baltimore, and in the 1960s, she joined Mount Hebron Baptist Church.

It's a case of fact mirroring fiction. Philadelphia, Here I Come! - a play about a young Irish man leaving home to embark on a career in America - was also the work that established the career of its Irish author, Brian Friel. The 1964 play is hardly a conventional coming-of-age piece, however. The protagonist, Gar O'Donnell, is portrayed by two actors, one depicting "Gar Public" and the other, "Gar Private." In the production at Performance Workshop Theatre, Tom Byrne and Kyle Riley make the distinction easy to discern.

Edna Goynes, a retired housekeeper and homemaker, died of pneumonia Sunday at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center. The former West Baltimore resident was 93. Born Edna Whittington in Baltimore, she was a 1931 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. She did housekeeping work for area families before retiring about 30 years ago. "She was an outgoing, fun-loving person. She had a great smile and a great laugh," said her grandson, David Nelson of Pikesville. "When she was cooking, she liked to have a transistor radio tuned to lively music or an Orioles game.