Nora

For a 25th birthday party, there sure were a lot of "proud parents" gathered on the mezzanine at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. But then, this party wasn't for just anyone. This was a celebration for Paul's Place, which had started 25 years ago in Pigtown serving meals to those in need. Now, it offers a range of programs for the neighborhood's impoverished families. While there have been various Paul's Place fundraisers over the years, in honor of its 25th anniversary its supporters were throwing their first gussied-up gala.

On January 28, 2007, NORA RAY GAITHER; devoted wife of the late William Leroy Gaither, Sr.; loving mother of Carolyn Anntoinette Ellis, Benita McDuffie-Smith, Theodosia Stephanie Myers, William Leroy Gaither, Jr. and Pamela Michele Gaither. She is also survived by one sister, one brother, eleven grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the JOSEPH L. RUSS FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 2222-26 W. North Avenue, on Monday from 3 to 8 P.M. Mrs. Gaither will lie instate at Sharon Baptist Church, Stricker and Presstman Street, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A.M., with services to follow.

On November 29, 2006, NORA BELL TAYLOR. On Monday, friends may call at Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services, 4905 York Road where the family will receive friends from 3 to 8 P.M. On Tuesday, services will be held at Healing The Land Ministry/New Tabernacle, 300 S. Patterson Park, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-433-7500.

Half-Life Shelley Jackson HarperCollins / 464 pp / $24.95 Shelley Jackson never does the same thing twice. Half-Life is her first literary novel (she previously published Skin, a novel in tattoos, and Patchwork Girl, a hypertext novel). Thus it could be said that if Jackson has an oeuvre, that oeuvre is surprise. Jackson strives for the singular, so although Half-Life might be accurately described as a novel of identity - hardly surprising literary territory - through Jackson's legerdemain, identity becomes something wholly other, both literally and literarily.

Nora E. Wagner, a registered nurse and homemaker, died of heart failure Sunday at Chester River Hospital Center in Chestertown. She was 89. Nora Edwards was born and raised in Ingleside, Va., and was a 1939 graduate of the old Union Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. She was an operating room nurse supervisor for eight years until her 1947 marriage to Dr. John Alfred Wagner, professor of medicine and chairman of the pathology department at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

On July 23, 2006, NORA E. WAGNER; wife of the late Dr. John A. Wagner, Prof. Emeritus University of Maryland, School of Medicine; beloved mother of John A. Wagner, Jr., Katherine E. Wagner and Jean C. Kermath; grandmother of three and great-grandmother of three. Service will be held Friday, July 28 at 11 A.M. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chestertown, MD. www.fhnfuneralhome.com

On July 14, 2006, NORA M. (nee Magsamen); beloved wife of the late George A. Niles, Sr.; devoted mother of George A. Niles, Jr. and his wife Joan. Also survived by two grandchildren, Randy G. Niles and wife Linda and Patti K. Robel and husband Joseph and five great-grandchildren, Michelle and Amanda Weaver and Kelly, Randy and Scott Niles and many nieces and nephews. A Funeral Service will be held at the Lassahn Funeral Home, Inc., 7401 Belair Road, on Monday at 11 A.M. The family will receive friends Sunday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Interment Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery.

On February 24, 2006, DOROTHY MAE ROH (nee Patterson) "Pat", "Oma"; devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, caregiver, comforter, nurturer went home to be with the Lord and reunite with her mother Cora Fay, Father Sylvester and Brother George. Oma passed peacefully at home with her family at her bedside. Pat is survived by her loving husband of 58 years, John E. Roh; her dear sister, Nora "Sis" Brooks; four children and nine grandchildren, beginning with John Roh, his wife Teresa, and children, John-David, Angel, and Joshua; Dan Roh, his wife Donna their two sons Deak and Danen; Doug Roh, his wife Katrina and their son Travis; Nora Roh Pyle, her husband Rick and their children, Ricky, Phillip and Timothy.

DR. NORA CARTLEDGE WILLIAMS. She was born in Gates County, North Carolina and died January 6, 2006 in Surprise, AZ, after a lengthy illness due to lung disease. She was an Education and Administrator in Baltimore City Schools. She leaves behind a husband, John Williams, brother Walter Eley, son Harrison Cartledge, daughter-in-law Dellareece T. Jackson and two daughters Gail and husband Danielle Sears, Francine and husband Horace Ford, grandchildren. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theata.