Welder

David Lee Ferguson, a retired welder and pile driver operator, died Sept. 2 from complications after leg surgery at a hospice in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 65. Mr. Ferguson was born in Baltimore and raised on Kramme Avenue in Brooklyn Park. He attended Brooklyn Park High School and the Community College of Baltimore. He served during the 1960s as a paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. Mr. Ferguson, who was a member of Boilermakers Local 906, worked as a welder and pile driver operator until about a decade ago, when he retired on a medical disability.

David Lee Ferguson, a retired welder and pile driver operator, died Sept. 2 from complications after leg surgery at a hospice in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 65. Mr. Ferguson was born in Baltimore and raised on Kramme Avenue in Brooklyn Park. He attended Brooklyn Park High School and the Community College of Baltimore. He served during the 1960s as a paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. Mr. Ferguson, who was a member of Boilermakers Local 906, worked as a welder and pile driver operator until about a decade ago, when he retired on a medical disability.

Melvin Lovell, a retired welder for DCA Food Industries Inc. in Jessup, died Friday of cancer at Mercy Medical Center.Mr. Lovell, 84, lived in the Hanover Square Apartments in South Baltimore for the past decade.He retired from DCA Food in 1960 and moved with his wife to Brigantine, N.J., where they lived until 1980.In New Jersey, Mr. Lovell served as commander of an American Legion Post and was active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars.Fond of surf fishing, he was a member of the Brigantine Sportsmen's Association.

Frank P. Hepner, a retired welder who enjoyed home improvement projects, died of a circulatory ailment Friday at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Middle River resident was 92. Born in Baltimore and raised in Fells Point, he was a 1935 City College graduate and later attended Strayer's Business College. He served in the Army as a medical technician during World War II. Mr. Hepner became a welder and worked at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point Shipyard and later for the Standard Oil Co. He retired nearly 30 years ago from the C. Hoffberger Co. He oversaw the unloading of fuel from tankers docked in Canton.

Frank P. Hepner, a retired welder who enjoyed home improvement projects, died of a circulatory ailment Friday at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Middle River resident was 92. Born in Baltimore and raised in Fells Point, he was a 1935 City College graduate and later attended Strayer's Business College. He served in the Army as a medical technician during World War II. Mr. Hepner became a welder and worked at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point Shipyard and later for the Standard Oil Co. He retired nearly 30 years ago from the C. Hoffberger Co. He oversaw the unloading of fuel from tankers docked in Canton.

A memorial service for Augustine O'Neill, who retired in 1968 as a welder at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire, will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Luther Towers I retirement community in Wilmington, Del., where he lived.Mr. O'Neill, a native of Boston who had also lived in Daytona Beach, Fla., died Wednesday of cancer at his home. He was 88.He is survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Poole; two sons, Timothy L. O'Neill of Bethesda and John A. O'Neill of Coppell, Texas; and five grandchildren.

Vernon C. Chester, a retired welder, died Monday at the Northwest Hospital center from complications of a stroke. The Pikesville resident was 82.Mr. Chester retired in 1975 as a welding supervisor for the Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., which he joined in 1940. He also was a maintenance worker at the B&O Building at Baltimore and Charles streets for many of those years.Born in Cambridge, he had been a policeman there in the late 1930s.He was a former member of the Prince Hall Masons, and a member of the Holy Name Society at St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, Poplar Grove and Prospect streets, where a Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. today.

Irving George Shinosky, a retired ship's welder who was active in Little League, died of complications from Parkinson's disease Wednesday at his residence in the Lake Shore section of Pasadena. He was 88. Born in Scranton, Pa., he moved to Baltimore nearly 60 years ago after serving in the Army during World War II. Before his retirement more than 30 years ago, he was a Maryland Drydock Co. welder at Fairfield. Active in Brooklyn-Curtis Bay Little League, Mr. Shinosky had been a coach, manager and umpire.

Bernard A. Heath, a retired welder and duckpin bowler, died of multiple organ failure Thursday at Franklin Square Hospital Center. He was 82 and lived in Middle River. Mr. Heath was born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown. He left school early to help support his family. He worked as a cabdriver and at Rheem Manufacturing Co., makers of water heaters, until becoming a welder in 1965. As a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 24, he worked on numerous construction projects, including the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the Carroll Island power plant and RFK Stadium in Washington.

Jason Douglas Vaughan, a welder and ornamental ironworker, died of blood poisoning Monday at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 24. Since 1994, the White Marsh resident had worked as a welder for Dundalk Ornamental Iron Works Inc. Mr. Vaughan had worked on a variety of steel fabrication projects for the Dundalk company, including Canton Crossing, the planned office and retail complex. "He was a hard worker and got along with everyone," said Vincent Del Pizzo, president and owner of Dundalk Ornamental Iron Works Inc. Mr. Vaughan, who was born in Baltimore and raised in Perry Hall, was a 1995 graduate of Perry Hall High School.

Oliver "Al" Bayne, a welder, blacksmith and founder of a group of clowns who marched in Baltimore parades, died Wednesday of complications from a stroke at a nursing home in Taneytown. He was 89. A resident of the Hampden neighborhood for most of his life, Mr. Bayne worked for Bethlehem Steel for about 15 years in the 1940s and 1950s. He then went to work as a blacksmith and railing manufacturer at the former Maryland Steel Products Co. in Baltimore. In the 1970s, he and his wife, Dorothy, and friends and neighbors created the "Clown Club of Hampden," said a son, Doug Bayne, 59, a custodian who lives in Carroll County.

Albert Joseph DiSeta, a retired Bethlehem Steel welder and World War II veteran, died of congestive heart failure Thursday at Forest Hill Mariner nursing home. The former Joppatowne resident was 91. Born in Baltimore and raised in Little Italy on Fawn Street, he attended St. Leo's Parochial School and was a 1934 City College graduate. He also attended Maryland Institute College of Art. During 1935 and 1936, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps and helped build the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

Willis K. Palmer, a retired welder and former Dundalk resident, died of Parkinson's disease Wednesday at his home in Centreville, Queen Anne's County. He was 90. Mr. Palmer was born and raised in Coatesville, Pa. After graduating from high school in 1934, he moved to Dundalk to work as a welder at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point plant. He retired in 1978. "At Sparrows Point, he was known as the Michelangelo of welding," said his daughter, Sandra M. Kessler of Marietta, Ga. Mr. Palmer attended the Johns Hopkins University, and he lived in Dundalk for 68 years before moving to Centreville in 2002.

Ernest R. Goddard Jr., a retired welder and steamfitter and lifelong Annapolis resident, died of heart failure Feb. 28 at his home. He was 92. He was a graduate of St. Mary's High School in Annapolis and worked at the Trumpy Yacht Yard before becoming a member of what became Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 486. He was a steamfitter and welder for 40 years, spending many years of his career at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point shipyard. He was a member of the Severna Park Elks Club, Annapolis Moose and Eastport Democratic Club.

Chris Cahoon Welder apprentice Poole and Kent Corp., Baltimore Salary --$21.84 an hour Age --27 Years on the job --Four years in the industry. How he got started --After serving in the Marine Corps for five years, Cahoon went back to South Carolina where he grew up. But when job prospects were not encouraging, he moved to Baltimore where a sister lived. He always liked working with his hands and was interested in labor unions and workers' rights. He decided to apply to the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 486 in Rosedale.

John J. "Joe" Lagaz, a retired welder, died of asbestosis Sunday at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa. The former Dundalk resident was 73. Born in Centralia, Pa., he attended Cunningham High School and moved to Baltimore in the early 1950s to work for Bethlehem Steel Co. His work there was interrupted by his service in the Army. He was assigned to West Germany and qualified as a sharpshooter. After his military service, he returned to Baltimore. He worked in the steel-making and shipyard divisions for 38 years.

Michael Cresap Smith, a retired welder and former Charles Village resident, died of heart failure Saturday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Austintown, Ohio, where he had lived for the past year. He was 87. Mr. Smith was raised on Park Avenue in Bolton Hill. He was a descendant of Col. Thomas Cresap, the Maryland frontiersman who befriended George Washington during the French and Indian War. He was a 1934 graduate of Boys' Latin School and joined the merchant marine in 1939. During World War II, he served on Liberty ships in the Pacific.

Bernard Nathaniel Randolph, a retired Bethlehem Steel worker who helped care for his Lochearn neighbors, died of heart failure Monday at Sinai Hospital. He was 77. Mr. Randolph, who died the day before his 78th birthday, was born in Baltimore and raised in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood. After graduating from Douglass High School in 1945, he enlisted in the Army and served for two years. Known as "Caggy," he went to work at Sparrows Point in 1958 as a coal operator and rose to master welder.