Roman Catholic Church

The stained glass windows of St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church in Fells Point are hard to see. The floral designs are shrouded by discolored plexiglass, but they are the clear focus of a dispute between developers who want to replace them with plain glass and the Polish congregants who don't want them touched. Developers who want to convert the church into a commercial or residential property say that without natural light, the building is useless. Members of the Polish community, though, say that the windows of their former church are an important legacy of their faith and history.

J OHN A. CARBONARA, 84, of Baltimore, MD, passed away June 29, 2009 at Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, NJ. John was a life-long resident of Baltimore and had been very active in St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church and Little Italy. He served in the United States Army Air Corp in China, Burma, India Theatre during World War. For many years John was a printer for the Social Security Department in Baltimore, before his retirement. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered Thursday 11 A.M at St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church.

The treatment for terminal cancer that Annapolis resident Mary Ellen Heibel took at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2004 and early 2005 worked beyond anyone's wildest hopes, wiping out malignant tumors in her lungs, liver, stomach and chest. Her doctor did not expect it, nor could he explain it. Surely the outcome was remarkable, but was it - in the sense applied by the Roman Catholic Church in such cases - a miracle? In a few weeks, a committee appointed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore will begin exploring that question, examining 11 witnesses, including Heibel, pressing her doctors, nurses and friends in an attempt to understand what happened.

A Baltimore County man in his 40s is suing the Archdiocese of Baltimore for an undisclosed amount of money, alleging negligence by the Roman Catholic Church after what he claims were years of sexual molestation by one of its priests. The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, alleges that the Rev. Michael L. Barnes abused the plaintiff while he was a minor at the St. Clare School in Essex. The suit names Barnes, the school and St. Clare Roman Catholic Church as co-defendants. Barnes, who left the priesthood in 1988 but was employed by the Archdiocese of Washington as lay director of adult faith formation at a Rockville church as recently as January, could not be located Friday.

On June 11, 2009, MARGARET L.; devoted mother of Denise A. Brown and Sharon Coates. She is also survived by one sister, Zemora Y. Taylor; two grandchildren, Monica Coates and Linwood Coates and a host of other relatives. Friends may call at the Gary P. March Funeral Home, 270 Fred Hilton Pass on Wednesday from 11 A.M until 7 P.M. Family will receive friends at St. Edwards Roman Catholic Church, 901 Poplar Grove St., Thursday 10 to 10:30 A.M. Mass of Christian Burial to follow. Interment Mt. Zion Cemetery.

On June 13, 2009, MILTON A. CRAWFORD, SR. Beloved husband of Alice Crawford. Friends may visit the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Wednesday after 8:30 A.M. The family will receive friends on Thursday at St. Bernardine's Roman Catholic Church at 10 A.M followed by Mass of

Robert J. Thommen, a former vice president of Atlantic Builders Group who enjoyed celebrating his Irish heritage, died Wednesday of renal cancer at his Forest Hill home. He was 75. Mr. Thommen was born in Baltimore and raised in Violetville. He graduated from Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington in 1951, and attended what is now Towson University and the University of Baltimore. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955, where he attained the rank of corporal, and later was an active reservist for six years.

Paul Mifflin Johnson, a retired Baltimore public school educator and administrator who helped record the history of the original Cross Keys settlement, died of heart failure June 2 at Sinai Hospital. The longtime Ashburton resident was 79. Mr. Johnson, the son of a chef and homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Cross Keys, which once sprawled along the western edge of Falls Road between Cold Spring Lane and Hillside Road.

On May 26, 2009, RAE VASHTI HILLEN (nee Cooper); beloved mother of Paula France and Jason. On Monday, the family will receive friends from 10 to 10:30 A.M with a memorial service to follow at St. Edwards Roman Catholic Church, 901 Poplar Grove Street. The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations are made in Mrs. Hillen's name to the church. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

Margaret M. "Marge" Cannington, a retired secretary and avid boater and dancer, died of Alzheimer's disease May 15 at an assisted-living facility in Jennersville, Pa. The former longtime Gardenville resident was 88. Margaret Mary Tenley was born in Baltimore and raised on Washington Street. After graduating from Eastern High School in 1939, she went to work as a secretary at the old Glenn L. Martin Co. plant in Middle River. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was married to Gordon Eugene "Ken" Cannington, a Marine.