Lamps

BETH KOLBE, a 48-year-old mother from Columbia, enrolled at Howard Community College in 1999, squeezing in classes in the evening on the weekend and online while juggling the demands of a full-time job and a family. Her 21-year-old daughter, Amanda, joined her mother on campus in 2002 after returning home from Army basic training. Amid a yearlong assignment at Fort Eustis, Va., part-time work and monthly duty at Fort Belvoir, Va., Amanda Kolbe recently completed her studies in criminal justice at the community college.

German director Michael Schorr likes to draw comparisons between his film Schultze Gets the Blues and Alexander Payne's About Schmidt. Both focus on middle-aged men forced into early retirement from jobs that had been as essential to their monotonous lives as air. Both men get on without spousal supervision, drawing out 15-minute tasks into all-day affairs just to fill the empty spaces. Certainly, similarities exist, although it's beyond me why a filmmaker would go out of his way to point out how analogous his film is to another.

It's almost spring, when thoughts turn to baseball, gardening -- and decorating. As you dust off the grill, you might want to rethink your al fresco spaces and how you furnish them. The outdoor room is not just the hottest design buzzword, the figment of a decorator's fertile imagination. It's value-added real estate, a bonus space that may afford many of the same creature comforts as are inside. It boosts property value as much as 30 percent, some experts say. "A population shift is a catalyst for the explosive growth in the outdoor segment" of home furnishings, says Mayer Rus, design editor for House & Garden.

On January 13, 2005, JOHN DONALD beloved husband of Emma L. (nee Crafton) devoted father of Thomas, Amy and Matthew Lamp, grandfather of Amanda, Joshua, Megan, Alexis, Kristen, Ian and Cheyenne. Funeral from the Lassahn Funeral Home, 7401 Belair Road on Tuesday at 10 A.M. Interment Baltimore Cemetery. Donations may be made to the Alzheimers Association. Visiting hours Sunday 7 to 9 P. M and Monday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M.

On July 23, 2004, CAROLYN A. (nee Schultz); beloved wife of the late Franklin D. Lamp; devoted mother of Theresa Poland and Angela Hess; dear grandmother of Daniel, Nicholas, Timothy and the late Byran; sister of Stanley Schultz. A Memorial Service will be held at the E. F. Lassahn Funeral Home, P.A., 11750 Belair Road (Kingsville) on Sunday at 10:00 A.M.

The product: A floor lamp. The expert: Tony Award-winning lighting designer Jules Fisher - and partner Peggy Eisenhauer - have lighted more than 150 Broadway and off-Broadway shows, in addition to ballet, opera, television and rock 'n' roll productions. What I want: Function always comes first; the lamp should distribute light where you want it. I must have: Of course, the lamp also must be beautiful. As an object, I want it pleasing to my eye. A reading lamp should light the book. By the same token, a lamp meant to illuminate people sitting on a couch should do that gracefully.

Edward G. Zubler, a General Electric Co. research chemist who developed the halogen lamp in 1959, died Saturday at a Cleveland hospital after his heart stopped during recovery from surgery for a herniated disc. A decorated combat medic in Europe during World War II, Mr. Zubler began experimenting with halogen lighting technology when he joined the companys lighting research laboratory in 1953. I was assigned to the project and told see whats going on, see whats making it work or not work, Mr. Zubler told the Smithsonian Institution, which lists his work among 20th-century inventions.

The Rev. Frank B. Lampe III, former pastor of St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baltimore who in recent years served as an interim pastor for many area congregations, died of cancer Nov. 16 at his Parkville home. He was 72. Mr. Lampe was born in Baltimore and reared in Perry Hall, where in his youth he attended St. Michael Lutheran Church. He was a 1948 graduate of Kenwood High School. "At the time he was finishing high school, there was a pastor at St. Michael's who encouraged him. It was during the summer between high school and college, when he was considering studying a number of things including engineering, that he felt a pull toward the seminary," said his wife of 24 years, the former Kate Jacobsen.

On November 16, 2003, THE REVEREND FRANK B. LAMPE, III, beloved husband of Kate Jacobsen-Lampe, was called home to the Lord. He is also survived by two children, Deborah Cole and Dr. Ruth McAuley, and five stepchildren, Samantha, the Rev. Brian, Janet, Laura and Bill Caughlan, two grandchildren, Priscilla and Paul Cole and seven step-grandchildren, Becky Caughlan, Frank and Juliet Harris, Nils and Evan Aho, Emma and Isabelle Caughlan. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned Evans Chapel of Memories, 8800 Harford Road on Wednesday, November 19 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 PM. Family will receive friends at The Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter, 5513 York Road, Govans on Thursday from 11 am until time of Funeral Service at 12 Noon.

Laurel Woods Elementary School and the LAMP Program will sponsor community dinners at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 and 18. School staff members will serve community residents a free spaghetti dinner in the cafeteria at Laurel Woods. More than $1,000 in donations from local businesses will be awarded to the winners of the 2003 LAMP Essay Contest and as door prizes. More than 400 people have attended the dinners in the past three years, and a large crowd is expected this year. The event will celebrate Laurel Woods Elementary's 30 years of service to the community.