Rock Hall

John Edward "Booty" Elburn Sr., a semiretired Eastern Shore waterman and lifelong Rock Hall resident, died of cancer Monday at Chester River Hospital Center. He was 76. Born and raised on East Neck Island near Rock Hall, Mr. Elburn was the son of a waterman. He attended Kent County public schools and then began working on his father's boat. For more than 40 years, Mr. Elburn sailed the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries tonging for oysters and crabbing from his boat, Daytona Dottie. At his death, he was still doing some crabbing, family members said.

WILLLIAM HAMILTON DANNEBERG, JR., beloved husband of Louise A. Danneberg, father of Elizabeth A. Flaim and William H. Danneberg, grandfather of Olivia and Daniel. Services on April 13 at 11 A.M. at Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, 130 Speer Road, Chestertown, Maryland. Visitation one hour prior to service and Wednesday, April 12 from 7 to 9 P.M. Interment will be in Still Pond Cemetery. Contributions to Rock Hall Museum, P.O. Box 367, Rock Hall, Maryland 21661. www.fhnfuneralhome.

Rock Hall Expo The lowdown -- There's more to the Rock Hall Expo than hunting and fishing. Weather permitting, pony rides and music will entertain guests between demonstrations and laps through the hunting and fishing displays. It's all a part of Rock Hall's Tricentennial Celebration. If you go -- The expo runs 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday in the Chesapeake Room at the Rock Hall Fire House, 21500 Rock Hall Ave., Rock Hall. Admission is $1 and will benefit the Rock Hall Fire Company. Call 410-639-7611 or go to rockhallmd.

William Emory Paxton, former chief chemist for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., died Saturday of complications from diabetes at Chester River Hospital Center in Chestertown. The Rock Hall resident was 83. Mr. Paxton was born in Baltimore and raised on South Linwood Avenue. He was a 1938 graduate of Patterson High School and joined the utility in 1940. During his 43-year tenure at the company, he studied chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University. He retired in 1973.

Laura H. Boyer, a homemaker and longtime Chestertown resident, died Saturday of heart failure at Chester River Hospital Center. She was 77. Laura Hogans was born and raised in Rock Hall and graduated in 1946 from Rock Hall High School. She attended Washington College. In 1952, she married Elroy G. Boyer Sr., now a retired Kent County Circuit Court judge. The couple lived for many years in Rock Hall before moving to Chestertown in 1980. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mrs. Boyer worked in real estate sales for Cooper-Barroll Realty in Chestertown.

On May 10, 2004, MARY E. MYERS, wife of the late Charles "Buck" Myers; and beloved cousin of Sharon Mueller, and her husband Tony. Relatives and friends may call Friday, May 14, 10 to 11 a.m., at Fellows Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, Rock Hall, MD, where an O.E.S. Service will be held at 11 a.m., followed by a funeral service at 11:30 a.m., at St. Paul Episcopal Church. Interment in the church cemetery. Contributions may be made to St. Paul's Cemetery, 7579 Sandy Bottom Rd., Chestertown, MD 21620 or Rock Hall Volunteer Fire Dept.

William Gary Parks, a well-known Eastern Shore house painter, died of a heart attack Jan. 20 at his Rock Hall home. He was 64. Mr. Parks, the son of a merchant seaman and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore. He was raised in Hampden and with relatives in Rock Hall. He attended city public schools and went to work as a painter for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1970. Mr. Parks returned to Rock Hall in 1990, where he worked at Washington College and then for several painting contractors.

Emory V. Hogans Jr., a retired career Maryland National Guard officer and World War II veteran, died Wednesday at Shands Jacksonville hospital in Florida of complications from a fall. He was 82. A longtime Timonium resident who had lived in Interlachen, Fla., since 1988, Mr. Hogans was born and raised in Rock Hall. A graduate of Rock Hall High School, he enlisted in the Army in 1942 and later transferred to the Army Air Forces. Trained as a pilot to fly B-17s and B-29s, he spent the war years as a flight instructor at bases in the United States training new fliers.

For years, Rosalie Keuchler of Rock Hall has been paying toll charges to telephone her brother in Centreville, just down the road.The reason: Rock Hall's local calling area is limited to two jurisdictions, Rock Hall and Chestertown. Calls to anywhere else cost extra.Rock Hall is one of dozens of towns in Maryland where local calling is limited to a few nearby communities. In the Baltimore area, by contrast, there is no toll for calls in a 1,000-square-mile area.The discrepancy has not been lost on Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., which submitted a proposal last week to the Public Service Commission to expand the calling areas of 61 rural areas, including Rock Hall.