Imogene

On December 16, 2007, IMOGENE C. SCHAFER; beloved wife of the late Henry L. Schafer; devoted mother of Evelyn and Tom Connor; loving grandmother of Sharon and Brian Lovejoy and Gary and Melody Connor; dear great-grandmother of Kristen Lovejoy and Sean and Jennifer Connor. Also survived by one brother. Family will receive friends on Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at HARRY H. WITZKE'S FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, INC., 4112 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City. A Funeral Service will be held Friday, 10 a.m. at Faith Bible Church.

Imogene B. Douglas, an educator who taught in Baltimore city elementary schools for 44 years and was a member of Waters African Methodist Episcopal Church, died Saturday of cancer at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. She was 86. Until moving to Pikesville in 1997, where she lived with a niece, Mrs. Douglas lived in the 1600 block of E. Biddle St. for almost 60 years. Mrs. Douglas began teaching in 1934. For most of her career, she taught at Franklin Square Elementary School at Lexington and Stricker streets, from which she retired in 1978.

On June 22, 2003 BERNICE M. beloved mother of Bernice Moaney, Bernard Myers, Nathanial Loudon, sister of Imogene Kent. Visitation on Monday 3 to 8 p.m. at the Joseph L. Russ Funeral Home, 2222 W. North Avenue. Service on Tuesday, Wake 11 a.m., funeral at 11:30 a.m. at St. Paul UMC Church, 1000 W. Saratoga Street. Interment Mt. Zion Cemetery.

On March 6, 2005, JOSEPH L. SOJKA, SR., beloved husband of the late Imogene C. (nee Ralston); devoted father of Paul E. Sojka, Sr. and the late Joseph L. Sojka, Jr. Also survived by two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A Catholic Burial Service will be held at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk, Inc., 7922 Wise Avenue on Thursday, at 10 A.M. Interment Sacred Heart of Jesus Cemetery. Friends may call on Wednesday, from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M.

On December 5, 2004, DONALD FRANCIS OHL, beloved husband of Imogene Ohl; devoted father of John F. Ohl, Eric Ohl, and Donald S. Ohl, and his wife Lou Ann; loving grandfather of Lauren Ohl, Jacob Ohl, Kyle Ohl, and Michele Ohl; dear brother of Shirley Schulthies. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the Schimunek Funeral Home Inc., 9705 Belair Road (Perry Hall), on Wednesday and Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m., where funeral services will be held on Friday at 10 A.M. Interment Parkwood Cemetery.

On July 17, 2004 MILDRED IMOGENE, beloved wife of the late Paul Boggs Sr., and William Mandley, loving mother of Paul Boggs Jr., Dennis Boggs, Patricia Gody, Barbara Boggs, Michael Boggs, David Boggs, Gail Boggs and the late Johnny Boggs. Also survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Friends may call at the Bruzdzinski Funeral Home P.A., 1407 Old Eastern Avenue, Essex at Rt. 702, (Beltway Exit 36) on Monday and Tuesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral services on Wednesday 11 A.M. Interment Holly Hill Memorial Gardens.

The cynically inclined have an easy target in "Il pirata," Bellini's first operatic success. Written in 1827, the rarely staged piece has a so-so plot involving 13th-century pirates, a love triangle, a fatal duel and a mad scene for the soprano. And the music is occasionally pedestrian, nowhere more so than the funeral procession in the last act, which sounds at first like the intro to "The 12th Street Rag" and then takes an almost cheery turn. But once you listen to this opera, really listen, it is impossible to miss the melodic beauty and theatrical imagination that propels it. Washington Concert Opera, which has a 15-season track record of rescuing neglected works, offered a welcome opportunity to do just that - listen.

On Sunday, November 2, 2003, JEAN KENNEDY, of Howard County, MD; survived by several nieces and nephews and many dear friends. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, November 14, at 2 P.M. at the First Presbyterian Church, 9325 Presbyterian Circle, Columbia, MD. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jean's memory may be made to the Salvation Army.

Imogene B. Johnston, long active in Harford County Republican Party politics and a community activist, died Oct. 26 at Senator Bob Hooper Hospice in Forest Hill of complications from a fall. She was 89. A daughter of a coal-mine supervisor and a homemaker, the former Imogene Rollins Bane was born and raised in Beckley, W.Va. She was a 1940 graduate of Mark Twain High School in Crab Orchard, W.Va. While attending West Virginia University where she earned a degree in business, she met and fell in love with Drexel M. Johnston.