Vansant

On November 11, 2003, LILLIAN "Nana"; beloved wife of the late W. Kenneth Vansant; loving mother of Sally Souris Snell and the late Kenny Vansant. Also survived by his wife Darlene; cherished grandmother of Kelly Mays, Stacey Vansant, Maggi Souris, Molli Souris Lapinski and Millicent Souris. Also survived by four great-grandchildren. The family will receive friends in the LEMMON FUNERAL HOME OF DULANEY VALLEY, INC., 10 W. Padonia Road (at York Road), Timonium-Cockeysville, on Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M., and in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sweet Air, on Friday, November 14, 12 noon to 1 P.M., at which time funeral services will be celebrated.

Seymour "Sy" Levin, a retired Baltimore advertising executive and sculptor, died of heart failure Monday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The former Owings Mills resident was 83. Mr. Levin was born in Springfield, Mass., and moved to Baltimore with his family in 1931. He was a 1940 graduate of City College and studied at the University of Maryland until he was drafted into the Army in 1942. He attained the rank of sergeant and served during the war years at Los Alamos, N.M., managing a warehouse.

Lillian H. Vansant, who owned and operated a Baltimore County dairy farm with her husband, died in her sleep Tuesday at Mays Chapel Ridge retirement community in Timonium. She was 97. Lillian Heiser was born in Baltimore and raised in the city's Irvington neighborhood. She was a graduate of the State Normal School in Towson, now Towson University, and did graduate work at New York University. Mrs. Vansant began teaching in city elementary schools in the 1920s and later taught business education at Western High School.

ON March 18, 2005, WILBUR L. VANSANT JR., loving companion of Sylvia; beloved father of Lorraine Farley; step-father of Carolyn O'Connor and Suzanne Gray, cherished "Pop Pop" of Erik and Kurt Farley, Denise Travis, Michael O'Connor, and Monica O'Connor, also survived by several great-grandchildren. Visitation will beheld at the Thomas Funeral Home P.A., 700 Locust St., Cambridge, MD on Tuesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Visitation will continue at the Ambrose Funeral Home, Inc., 1328 Sulphur Spring Rd, Arbutus, Wednesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M., where a funeral service will be held Thursday at 11 A.M. Interment following at Loudon Park Cemetery.

VanSant Dugdale cut its staff by more than a third and laid off 13 employees from its production, traffic and media departments yesterday morning, according to an official at the advertising agency.The cuts have been expected since Gray Kirk & Evans and VanSant agreed to a merger last month, creating Baltimore's second-largest ad agency, with $80 million in annual billings.Combined, the new agency, named Gray Kirk/VanSant, will have 92 employees, said Jeff Millman, the VanSant creative director who will co-head the creative department at the merged agency.

Gray Kirk & Evans and VanSant Dugdale, Baltimore's fifth- and sixth-largest advertising agencies, have signed a letter of intent to merge, an official at VanSant confirmed yesterday.With combined annual billings of about $75 million, the resulting firm would be the second-largest advertising agency in Baltimore, behind W. B. Doner & Co. It would displace Richardson, Myers & Donofrio, which has annual billings of about $60 million and has long been in second place."There has been a letter of intent to merge," said Thomas Nagle, VanSant senior vice president of account services.

Nicholas VanSant, retired president and chairman of the board of VanSant Dugdale & Co. Inc., one of the oldest advertising agencies in the country, died Thursday of cancer at his home in Towson. He was 70.Mr. VanSant, a 35-year veteran of the company, retired in 1983. While he was president, the company maintained national accounts with clients such as USF&G, Black & Decker and Martin Marietta.Mr. VanSant joined the firm, founded by his father, Wilbur VanSant, in 1948 as a service assistant after graduating from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He worked in various departments before joining management.

Thelma Moffett Vansant, who began a more than 40-year teaching career in Kent County in a one-room schoolhouse at Cliffs City and was active in professional, community and church organizations, died Thursday at the Chestertown Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility. The longtime Chestertown resident, who was named the county's Most Beautiful Person in 1987, was 93. Born Thelma Moffett, she graduated in 1926 from Rock Hall High School and in 1928 from the State Normal School, now Towson University.

ROCK HALL -- One man's solemn tribute to a declining way of life was unveiled yesterday in this small Eastern Shore town.A 16-foot-high statue of Capt. Stanley Vansant, who spent most of his 81 years as a waterman and master boat builder, will stand at water's side in Rock Hall harbor as a reminder of days gone by, but it won't be the only reminder.Hundreds of the 3,000 work- and head-boats he built still work Chesapeake Bay and its quiet coves and harbors."If this were Japan, Captain Vansant would be a national treasure," said sculptor Kenneth Herlihy, creator of the bronze statue, which shows the captain tonging for oysters.

One of the first swings of USF&G Corp.'s $75 million cost-cutting ax has fallen on its advertising budget, and two large local ad agencies are feeling the blow.VanSant Dugdale & Co., which has held the bulk of USF&G's reported $11 million advertising account for several decades, confirmed yesterday that its billings have been cut "significantly."And Richardson, Myers & Donofrio said the $3 million account for corporate public affairs and the annual USF&G Golf Classic it handled for the insurance company in New Orleans has been eliminated.

Lillian H. Vansant, who owned and operated a Baltimore County dairy farm with her husband, died in her sleep Tuesday at Mays Chapel Ridge retirement community in Timonium. She was 97. Lillian Heiser was born in Baltimore and raised in the city's Irvington neighborhood. She was a graduate of the State Normal School in Towson, now Towson University, and did graduate work at New York University. Mrs. Vansant began teaching in city elementary schools in the 1920s and later taught business education at Western High School.

On November 11, 2003, LILLIAN "Nana"; beloved wife of the late W. Kenneth Vansant; loving mother of Sally Souris Snell and the late Kenny Vansant. Also survived by his wife Darlene; cherished grandmother of Kelly Mays, Stacey Vansant, Maggi Souris, Molli Souris Lapinski and Millicent Souris. Also survived by four great-grandchildren. The family will receive friends in the LEMMON FUNERAL HOME OF DULANEY VALLEY, INC., 10 W. Padonia Road (at York Road), Timonium-Cockeysville, on Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M., and in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sweet Air, on Friday, November 14, 12 noon to 1 P.M., at which time funeral services will be celebrated.

Thelma Moffett Vansant, who began a more than 40-year teaching career in Kent County in a one-room schoolhouse at Cliffs City and was active in professional, community and church organizations, died Thursday at the Chestertown Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility. The longtime Chestertown resident, who was named the county's Most Beautiful Person in 1987, was 93. Born Thelma Moffett, she graduated in 1926 from Rock Hall High School and in 1928 from the State Normal School, now Towson University.

J. Stanley Paulus, noted advertising executive who helped create the "Charm City" and "Trash Ball" advertising campaigns in the 1970s, died Monday of colon cancer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 64 and lived in Phoenix.Mr. Paulus was senior vice president and creative director of VanSant Dugdale advertising agency, where his conceptual ideas resulted in many award-winning regional, national and international advertising campaigns for such clients as Black & Decker US Inc., US Airways, Roy Rogers restaurants and Nestle.

Phyllis B. Brotman, who started a public relations agency 31 years ago at her kitchen table, announced yesterday that she is merging the company with Gray, Kirk/VanSant, one of Baltimore's largest advertising agencies.Image Dynamics Inc.'s merger is intended to build Gray, Kirk/VanSant's public relations department while giving the smaller firm in-house access to technology and services that are becoming an increasingly important element of the industry.zTC Roger Gray, president of Gray, Kirk/VanSant, said he had heard that Image Dynamics was having preliminary discussions about a merger with another agency in Baltimore, and he approached Brotman.

The Baltimore advertising firm Gray, Kirk/VanSant has won a contract to represent Value Rent-A-Car, an account worth about $8 million in annual billings.Value will be the company's second largest client, behind Choice Hotels International. That account has annual billings of about $20 million.A subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors, Value Rent-A-Car has offices in 49 resort locations around the country, with 35 sites in Florida alone."This is a big win for us," Roger Gray, president and chief executive officer of the advertising company, said in a prepared statement.

When players in the Mount Airy Rotary Club's fifth annual Benefit Golf Tournament tee off Monday morning, their fair play on the fairways at Holly Hills Country Club will benefit area youth, from kindergartners to college students."

J. Stanley Paulus, noted advertising executive who helped create the "Charm City" and "Trash Ball" advertising campaigns in the 1970s, died Monday of colon cancer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 64 and lived in Phoenix.Mr. Paulus was senior vice president and creative director of VanSant Dugdale advertising agency, where his conceptual ideas resulted in many award-winning regional, national and international advertising campaigns for such clients as Black & Decker US Inc., US Airways, Roy Rogers restaurants and Nestle.

ROCK HALL -- One man's solemn tribute to a declining way of life was unveiled yesterday in this small Eastern Shore town.A 16-foot-high statue of Capt. Stanley Vansant, who spent most of his 81 years as a waterman and master boat builder, will stand at water's side in Rock Hall harbor as a reminder of days gone by, but it won't be the only reminder.Hundreds of the 3,000 work- and head-boats he built still work Chesapeake Bay and its quiet coves and harbors."If this were Japan, Captain Vansant would be a national treasure," said sculptor Kenneth Herlihy, creator of the bronze statue, which shows the captain tonging for oysters.

Taking what is considered a bold step, one of Baltimore's biggest advertising agencies will expand to Florida, seeking new business in a venture headed by an agency partner.Graham Kirk, 53-year-old senior executive vice president of Gray Kirk/VanSant, will leave the Baltimore headquarters, where he has spent more than a decade building a reputation as a skilled marketing executive, to become president of a West Palm Beach office, the agency announced yesterday."It's a big challenge, not only geographically, but secondly, we have no clients we're going down there with," said Roger Gray, president and chief executive officer.