Reading Specialists

Thelma P. D. Lombardi, a retired reading specialist whose teaching career spanned more than four decades, died of a heart attack Sunday at St. Joseph Medical Center. The longtime Timonium resident was 80. Thelma Pucci DeJacquin was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. She was a 1944 graduate of Seton High School and earned a bachelor's degree in English literature and the classics from St. Joseph's College in Emmitsburg. In 1977, she earned a master's degree in reading from the Johns Hopkins University.

Carroll County public schools will get a new reading specialist after all.Superintendent William H. Hyde announced yesterday that he is creating another elementary school supervisor position -- a post he proposed this year. The position was rejected by the school board last month during a budget-trimming session. The board voted to use the money instead for an additional classroom teacher in the 1999-2000 budget.The supervisor will assess reading performance in elementary schools and explore ways for teachers to improve reading skills -- jobs now shared by four other supervisors.

Pamela P. Burke, a reading specialist who taught in Baltimore County public schools, died of breast cancer Feb. 24 at Chesapeake Hospice House in Linthicum. The longtime Pasadena resident was 59. She was born Pamela Price in Baltimore and raised in Dundalk, where she was a runner-up in the Miss Dundalk beauty contest in 1963. A 1964 graduate of Dundalk High School, she earned a bachelor's degree in 1968 and a master's degree in 1970, both in education, from what is now Towson University.

James Daniel McHugh, a Baltimore County educator for 35 years who was active in church work, died Friday of pneumonia at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 63.Mr. McHugh, who lived in Baltimore's Hamilton section, was a reading specialist at Holabird Middle School in Dundalk at his retirement in 1991.Earlier he taught at Golden Ring Junior High, Hawthorne Elementary, Dundalk High and Grange Elementary. For 14 years he was involved in Mobile On Site Training helping fellow teachers implement reading programs.

Doris L. McPherson, a retired reading specialist with Baltimore County schools who seemed to always have "a trick up her sleeve" to teach students, died May 4 of cancer at her Parkton home. She was 54.Mrs. McPherson began her education career as a first-grade teacher at Owings Mills Elementary School and became a reading specialist at Prettyboy Elementary in the mid-1970s."She had great rapport with the students. She had great knowledge of how to reach students with reading problems," said Margo Kwoka, who worked with Mrs. McPherson for many && years at Prettyboy Elementary.

Services for Dr. Ellenor K. Stafford-Milio, a reading specialist and professor of communication and learning skills at Prince George's Community College, will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, East Mount Vernon Place and North Washington Place.Dr. Stafford-Milio lived in the Village of Cross Keys. She died Wednesday at Union Memorial Hospital of complications after surgery at the age of 62.Before joining the faculty of the Prince George's school, she was a reading resource teacher and specialist in the Baltimore school system between 1975 and 1986.

Harriett Ann Colder, a reading specialist who established a remedial education company that helped students with English, math and reading, died Tuesdayof multiple organ failure at Howard County General Hospital. The longtime Ellicott City resident was 74. The former Harriett Ann Orth, who went by Ann, was born in Baltimore and raised in Towson. After graduating from Towson High School in 1955, she earned her bachelor's degree from what is now Towson University in 1959. In the early 1960s, she earned a master's degree in remedial reading and diagnosis of learning disabilities from Loyola College of Maryland.

Clara Mae Boender, a retired reading specialist and elementary school teacher who taught for 54 years, died of multisystem organ failure Jan. 12 at Howard County General Hospital. The Ellicott City resident was 86. Born Clara Mae Crouch in Baltimore and raised in the Paradise section of Catonsville, she was the daughter of Harry Crouch, a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad worker, and Ruth Crouch, who founded the Kinder Kraft Kindergarten, a school located in Catonsville and later Ten Hills.

As a second-grade teacher at Woodbridge Elementary School, one of Gail Kennedy's greatest joys was helping her pupils come alive to the magic of reading. Now, as the school's new reading specialist, she hopes to help every pupil at Woodbridge. "She won't be limited to 25 students a year," said Principal Peggy Etzel. "She has had such an impact on the second-graders in her classroom that the impact she will have on the rest of the students will be phenomenal." Kennedy's primary task will be to help pupils who fall below grade level.

Beatrice I. "Bea" Jefferson, a retired educator who taught in city public schools for more than two decades, died Jan. 24 of cardiac arrest at Sinai Hospital. She was 89. The daughter of a butcher and a homemaker, Beatrice Irene Knotts was one of eight children. She was born and raised in Wilmington, Del. After graduating in 1939 from Howard High School in Wilmington, Mrs. Jefferson earned a bachelor's degree in 1943 from what is now Morgan State University. Mrs. Jefferson worked for the Social Security Administration while earning her teacher's certification from what is now Coppin State University.