Witherspoon

On May 21, 2004, BEALIN WITHERSPOON. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST INC., 4300 Wabash Ave, on Wednesday after 4 P.M. The family will receive friends on Thursday at First Charity Baptist Church, 611 Aisquith St. at 11 A.M., followed by Funeral Services at 11:30 A.M. See www.marchfh.com

Within an hour after an East Baltimore man died while in police custody, Cortly "C.D. " Witherspoon got an urgent phone call from someone with connections to the family, asking for his help. The next day, Witherspoon, a 30-year-old clergyman and single father, walked the streets conducting what he calls a "community investigation. " Though police said Anthony Anderson had died from choking on drugs, people who said they saw the arrest described an assault. Anderson's death has since been ruled a homicide, and Witherspoon and his bullhorn have been at the center of rallies calling attention to the issue.

On April 28, 2003; GILBERTE F. "BETTY" WITHERSPOON; beloved wife of Gordon H. Witherspoon; loving mother of Renee Witherspoon Latimer, and Gordon H. Witherspoon, Jr. Also survived by five grandchildren. Memorial Service will be held Saturday, May 3 at 10:30 AM at Sherwood Forest Stewart Hall, Sherwood Forest, MD.

Two activists who entered Baltimore City Hall on Monday afternoon and demanded to speak with the mayor about a wide range of issues affecting city residents were later arrested for trespassing and escorted out of the building in handcuffs. They never met with the mayor. The Rev. Cortly "C.D. " Witherspoon, of the Baltimore chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Sharon Black, of the Baltimore People's Assembly, had wanted to deliver a letter to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake that demanded an "emergency meeting" to discuss police brutality, the closing of recreation centers and fire companies, and the creation of more city jobs programs, according to the letter.

On October 18, 2008 YVONNE P. WITHERSPOON, beloved mother of Cynthia (Cindy) Davis. On Thursday, friends may call at VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES (RANDALLSTOWN), 8728 Liberty Road from 4:00-8:00 p.m. On Friday, Mrs. Witherspoon will lie in state at Epworth Chapel, Liberty Rd. & St. Lukes Lane, where the family will receive friends from 11:00-11:30 a.m. with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-655-0015.

On December 13, 2007, WILLIAM WITHERSPOON, JR.; beloved father of Cynthia Robinson. On Wednesday, friends may call Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services (West), 5151 Baltimore National Pike, where the family will receive friends from 3 to 8 P.M. On Thursday, the family will receive friends at Vaughn C. Greene West Chapel from 10:30 to 11 A.M. with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

William Kenan Witherspoon, a lawyer who specialized in bankruptcy and taxation, died of cancer Sunday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. He was 49 and lived in Roland Park. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, La., he was known as "Spoon." He earned a degree in accounting from Louisiana State University. He was a certified public accountant before earning a master's degree from Georgetown University Law Center. While in Washington, Mr. Witherspoon met his future wife, the former Heather Margaret Shettle, a Towson lawyer.

Mildred R. Witherspoon, an active church member and former box factory worker, died of cancer Friday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Irvington resident was 75. Mrs. Witherspoon retired 11 years ago from L. Gordon & Sons Co., a paper box manufacturer. She earlier made headpieces and veils for Andre Fantasies in downtown Baltimore. Born in Baltimore, Mildred Vaughn attended Frederick Douglass High School. In 1962, she married John Witherspoon, a city Department of Public Works employee who died in 1988.

Gilberte Fournier Witherspoon, a retired registered nurse and a former longtime Baltimore County election judge, died of cancer Monday at Heritage Harbor Health and Rehabilitation Center in Annapolis. She was 72. Gilberte Fournier was born and reared in Edmunston, New Brunswick. After graduating from high school, she received a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1952 from Hotel Dieu of St. Joseph's Hospital in Edmunston. After working for two years as a nurse in her hometown, she moved to Miami, then in 1955 to Baltimore, where she went to work as a nurse at Union Memorial Hospital.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Ray Mercer, who had not won a major heavyweight fight in three years, projected himself back into the title picture last night by upsetting two-time former champion Tim Witherspoon in a 10-round nonstop brawl at the Convention Center.The Mercer-Witherspoon bout preceded the rematch between Riddick Bowe and Andrew Golota.Mercer, who once owned the World Boxing Organization crown, staged a strong rally in the last four rounds to gain a unanimous decision. Two judges -- Paul Venti and John Poturaz -- favored Mercer, 97-93; the third official, Calvin Claxton, seemed out of line with his 97-91 scorecard.

Eliyahu Werdesheim avoided a prison sentence Wednesday for the 2010 attack of a black teenager in Northwest Baltimore, in a case that heightened community divides. Werdesheim, a former member of an Orthodox Jewish citizens' watch group, was sentenced to three years' probation by Baltimore Circuit Judge Pamela J. White for second-degree assault and false imprisonment. Werdesheim, now 24, had faced up to 10 years in prison for the Nov. 19, 2010 assault on Corey Ausby, who was then 15 years old. Much of the two-hour hearing was devoted to remarks by nine Werdesheim supporters, including Baltimore business leaders, a rabbi and one of his college professors.

When 17-year-old John Edwards was shot in the head on Edmondson Avenue this month, no one marched on City Hall. There were no comparisons to Emmett Till, no columns in national newspapers about the anxieties of growing up black and male in a country still haunted by racial divides. Baltimore Ravens did not wear hoodies in solidarity. On average, one juvenile a month has been the victim of homicide in Baltimore over the past three years. Many, like Edwards, were written about and discussed briefly, then forgotten by all but loved ones.

On December 6, 2009, WALKER WITHERSPOON. Friends may visit the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Friday after 8:30 AM, where the family will receive friends on Saturday at 11:30 AM followed by funeral services at 12 noon.

Reese Witherspoon's kids are at that age - the one where they discover a movie they like and proceed to watch it over and over and over again. Her daughter, Ava, 9, and son, Deacon, 5, don't get bored of their favorites and don't find themselves satisfied with a third viewing. They just get excited to watch it again. So it's no surprise that the Oscar winner, 33, is particularly concerned with the quality of children's entertainment, choosing to work back to back on animated feature films.

ROBERT MULLIGAN, 83 Directed "To Kill a Mockingbird" Robert Mulligan, the Academy Award-nominated director of To Kill a Mockingbird who later helped launch the career of Reese Witherspoon, died Saturday at his home in Lyme, Conn. He had suffered from heart disease, his wife, Sandy, said yesterday. Mr. Mulligan was nominated for an Oscar for To Kill a Mockingbird, the adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a child's world shaken by the racism of a Southern town.

Serious talent can overcome even the most hackneyed of movie plots, as Four Christmases proves. A surprisingly deft and sometimes hilarious variation on the well-worn "holidays+relatives=hell" story line (see Home for the Holidays, Christmas with the Kranks, Fred Claus, etc.), Four Christmases works because of some genuinely funny setups, a pace that never dwells on one gag (or even one family) too long and a careful mix of slapstick and bawdy humor. But mostly, the film works because of the astonishing acting talent the filmmakers brought together to make it. No fewer than five Oscar winners - Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight - get to show their funny sides in the films.

On October 18, 2008 YVONNE P. WITHERSPOON, beloved mother of Cynthia (Cindy) Davis. On Thursday, friends may call at VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES (RANDALLSTOWN), 8728 Liberty Road from 4:00-8:00 p.m. On Friday, Mrs. Witherspoon will lie in state at Epworth Chapel, Liberty Rd. & St. Lukes Lane, where the family will receive friends from 11:00-11:30 a.m. with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-655-0015.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: The roughly 40,000 of you who will visit the Hippodrome Theatre in the next two weeks will deliberate on a controversial case. You must carefully weigh the evidence and render a verdict on whether Legally Blonde: The Musical is a tasteless rip-off or a clever homage. I submit that, despite some mitigating factors to the contrary, the creative team of the stage show should be convicted of aesthetic violations. With two exceptions, the score runs the gamut of vapid to bland.