Lake Charles

LAKE CHARLES, LA. // Dean Doe has ridden out three hurricanes at sea during his years as a ship captain and river pilot. But listening to Hurricane Rita tear through his leafy neighborhood in this port city upriver from the Gulf of Mexico was far worse. "In your ship, you have some type of control," Doe, 45, said yesterday. "As long as you're not caught in the hurricane, you can run from it. Sitting in a house, you knew it was coming to you instead of going away from it. It was just a nightmare."

Jeffrey F. Bayliss, a chemical engineer who was the president and owner of Spray Drying Systems Inc., died April 2 of complications from cancer at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 52. The son of Ronald W. Bayliss, a chemical engineer, and N. Ruth Theisz Bayliss, a homemaker, Jeffrey Francis Bayliss was born and raised in Flemington, N.J. After graduating in 1979 from Hunterdon Central High School, he earned a degree in 1985 in chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Jeffrey F. Bayliss, a chemical engineer who was the president and owner of Spray Drying Systems Inc., died April 2 of complications from cancer at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 52. The son of Ronald W. Bayliss, a chemical engineer, and N. Ruth Theisz Bayliss, a homemaker, Jeffrey Francis Bayliss was born and raised in Flemington, N.J. After graduating in 1979 from Hunterdon Central High School, he earned a degree in 1985 in chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

William E. Wentworth, a retired W.R. Grace project engineer who survived the sinking of a Liberty Ship in a World War II kamikaze attack, died of cancer Jan. 22 at his Timonium home. He was 87. Born in Detroit, he moved with his parents to Carroll County and was a 1940 graduate of Hampstead High School. He later resided on Belleville Avenue and became an apprentice machinist with the old Bartlett-Hayward Co. in Southwest Baltimore before World War II. In an autobiographical sketch, Mr. Wentworth wrote that he joined the Navy as a machinist.

William E. Wentworth, a retired W.R. Grace project engineer who survived the sinking of a Liberty Ship in a World War II kamikaze attack, died of cancer Jan. 22 at his Timonium home. He was 87. Born in Detroit, he moved with his parents to Carroll County and was a 1940 graduate of Hampstead High School. He later resided on Belleville Avenue and became an apprentice machinist with the old Bartlett-Hayward Co. in Southwest Baltimore before World War II. In an autobiographical sketch, Mr. Wentworth wrote that he joined the Navy as a machinist.

Eddie B. Walton, a homemaker and seamstress who assisted at churches where her husband was pastor, died of a stroke Friday at North Arundel Hospital. The Severna Park resident was 75. Born and raised Eddie Bell Syas in Lake Charles, La., she attended public schools and later earned a General Educational Development certificate. In 1953 she married Boyd Walton Jr., a career Air Force master sergeant who was assigned to the National Security Agency. After retiring in 1973, he was ordained a United Methodist minister, and Mrs. Walton assisted her husband in his pastorates at Homestead and Strawbridge United Methodist churches, both in Baltimore, and Mount Tabor in Crownsville.

Murry `Joe' Plant, 74, owned drywall company Murry "Joe" Plant, a former railroad worker who owned a painting and drywall installation company, died of heart failure yesterday at Chapel Hill Nursing Center in Randallstown. He was 74. A former longtime resident of Milford Mill, he had lived in Rockdale since the late 1990s. Mr. Plant was born and reared in El Campo, Texas, and after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army in 1948. He served as an instructor with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C. After being discharged as a sergeant in 1952, he moved to Baltimore and went to work as a brakeman for the Western Maryland Railway.

Andre Dirrell promised to shine like a star. He vowed to show the crowd at Glen Burnie's Michael's Eighth Avenue how he could "get it done." And the Olympic bronze medalist generally had his way with Carlos Jones of Temple Hills last night. Dirrell dropped Jones twice, bloodying his nose and scoring a technical knockout with 10 seconds left in the fourth and final round of his super middleweight (168 pounds) professional debut. Dirrell showed a willingness to mix it up, tempting fate by dropping his hands and taking punches.

SONJA CROSBY Sonja Crosby writes our First Person essay. She is a native of Baltimore and a 1985 graduate of City College High School. She wrote about the experience of attending her high-school reunion. RASHEIM FREEMAN Rasheim Freeman, a native of the Bronx, N.Y., is taking a break from attending Morgan State University. Freeman has written for The Sun's sports and business departments. He has two stories in this edition of UniSun: a look at the line-dance craze at some clubs and a feature about African-American wedding traditions.

LAKE CHARLES, LA. // Dean Doe has ridden out three hurricanes at sea during his years as a ship captain and river pilot. But listening to Hurricane Rita tear through his leafy neighborhood in this port city upriver from the Gulf of Mexico was far worse. "In your ship, you have some type of control," Doe, 45, said yesterday. "As long as you're not caught in the hurricane, you can run from it. Sitting in a house, you knew it was coming to you instead of going away from it. It was just a nightmare."