Latest news with #BeverlyByron
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
James R. Grieves, Baltimore's Center Stage architect, dies
James R. Grieves, an architect who won awards for Baltimore's Center Stage and the Brandywine River Museum, died of heart failure Feb. 5 at the Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson. He was 92. His father, Edward Grieves, a stockbroker, drowned while fishing when Mr. Grieves was a child. His widowed mother, Frances Rutledge Kefauver Grieves, later married Charles Rowland Posey, and the family settled on University Parkway. Mr. Grieves, a Baltimore native, was a graduate of St. Paul's School, the University of Virginia, and Princeton University. At his St. Paul's graduation, he received the Kinsolving Fellowship Award, the highest honor for a senior. He also played on the first-string All-Maryland lacrosse team. While a student at the University of Virginia Architectural School, he was captain of the lacrosse team and was named an All-American. While at Princeton, he earned a Master's degree in architecture and coached lacrosse. His wife, Anne Braff Grieves, said he was most proud of his creation and expansion of the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He took an old grist mill and made it into a setting for the works of Andrew Wyeth, his father, N.C. Wyeth, and other members of the Wyeth family, among other artists associated with the Brandywine School of Painting. Mr. Grieves got the commission in 1968 when he was 35. The museum opened in 1971, and an addition followed in 1984 and again in 2004. 'We've grown with this museum. We've learned from this museum,' Mr. Grieves said in a Baltimore Sun interview. Mr. Grieves also won honors for converting the old Loyola High School building, adjacent to St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, into what is now Baltimore Center Stage. News Obituaries | John Latchford Beck, 'unofficial mayor of Ellicott City Main Street,' dies News Obituaries | Beverly Byron, former U.S. congresswoman representing Western Maryland, dies News Obituaries | Alma Elizabeth Meagher, family matriarch, dies News Obituaries | Beverly Byron, former U.S. congresswoman representing Western Maryland, dies News Obituaries | Joseph Palmisano, retired family physician, dies The converted school opened as a theater in 1975 after Center Stage suffered a multi-alarm fire at its previous playhouse on East North Avenue in what had been an Oriole Cafeteria. The design was awarded a national American Institute of Architects Award in 1978. 'Jim was at the forefront of historic preservation,' said an associate, David Wright. 'He was humble about submitting Center Stage for consideration. But he was delighted when the recognition came.' He also worked on the Baltimore School for the Arts, the Walters Art Museum and the restoration of the Wilmington, Delaware opera house which contained a cast iron facade made in Baltimore. His firm designed the Marine Mammal Pavilion, a large and colorful expansion to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Other projects included Richardson Hall at Princeton and Tashiding, a Baltimore County residence. Mr. Grieves was a past president of the Lacrosse Foundation, enjoyed golf and played at courses from Carmel, California to Nantucket Island. In addition to his wife of 57 years, survivors include three children from his first marriage, to Ann Watts: James R. Grieves Jr., of Baltimore, Richard B. Grieves, of Easton, and Katherine Grieves Perkins, of Warner, New Hampshire; a stepson, Hilary Gans; a sister, Ann Posey Cherry; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at and 410-332-6570.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
John Latchford Beck, unofficial mayor of Ellicott City Main Street, dies
John Latchford Beck, an Ellicott City Main Street presence, retired archivist and Army linguist during the Vietnam War, died of cancer Jan. 30 at Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center. He was 82. Born in Baltimore and raised on Collins Avenue in Irvington, he was an Edmondson High School graduate. He enlisted in the Army, trained as an intelligence analyst at Fort Holabird and then as a Vietnamese linguist at Fort Bliss in Texas. 'He worked in intelligence under an assumed name and in civilian clothes,' said a friend, Jim Halcomb. 'He had a talent for languages and was told he was accomplished as a native speaker. He earned a Bronze Star Award for his work, first getting information about the Ho Chi Minh Trail and later in the interrogation of prisoners of war.' He studied at the University of Maryland College Park and returned to Vietnam briefly — but a job as a guide failed to pan out. He then backpacked across Australia, Southeast Asia, Afghanistan and Europe. He settled in Ellicott City in the early 70s and briefly owned a head shop. He found a walk-up apartment on the third floor of a 19th-century structure. He collected cameras and displayed photos of Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison. 'It was like a bohemian salon,' said friend, David Ditman. 'He was one of the kindest, most interesting people I have ever met. He was well-read, an artist and a photographer. We talked together, on and off, for 50 years.' 'He was a unique, genuine soul that touched many people's hearts,' said his nephew, Steve Beck, 'He was often called the unofficial mayor of Ellicott City Main Street.' Friends recalled that he prepared the same dinner – chicken, rice and vegetables, then shot a photo of the meal. He then arranged the photos by date. In a 2016 Catonsville Times article Mr. Beck said he'd 'witnessed the town change from a motley collection of grocery stores, a movie theater, hardware shops and hippie spots into a vibrant small town with restaurants and boutiques.' News Obituaries | Beverly Byron, former U.S. congresswoman representing Western Maryland, dies News Obituaries | Alma Elizabeth Meagher, family matriarch, dies News Obituaries | Beverly Byron, former U.S. congresswoman representing Western Maryland, dies News Obituaries | Joseph Palmisano, retired family physician, dies News Obituaries | Perry J. Bolton, Maryland steeplechase stable co-owner, dies 'People think we're just a tiny little tourist town. They think it's almost like a movie set,' he also said. 'There are people who live above these businesses. There are business owners who live on top of their businesses. This is a real community.' 'It's bohemian, in a way,' he said. 'It's out of the ordinary. It's off the beaten track. It's funky.' At times he tended bar at the Cacao Lane Restaurant He cultivated a full head of hair, beard and mustache and wore oversized eyeglasses. When not walking along Main Street in Ellicott City, he often appeared at festivals, including SoWeBo, HonFest, the Renaissance Festival and Artscape. He carried his camera and took numerous photographs. Mr. Beck was an assistant librarian of the special collections at the Kuhn Library at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He did archival work in the library's photographic archive section. A life celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 22 at Howard County Historical Society Museum, 8328 Court Ave., Ellicott City. Survivors include his brother, George W. Beck of Catonsville; and nieces and nephews.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former 6th District Rep. Beverly Byron dies at 92
It was just one month before the general election in 1978, and Beverly Byron was like a 'house afire — on a mission,' her son Barton 'Kimball' Byron said in an interview on Monday. Beverly's husband, Goodloe Byron, had been the incumbent representative of Maryland's 6th Congressional District when he died suddenly of a heart attack during a jog along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Beverly Byron had just been appointed to take his place on the ballot. Up until that point, Beverly had no political aspirations of her own. She did, however, have years of behind-the-scenes experience supporting her husband's campaigns for the Maryland General Assembly and later for Congress. Beverly, a Democrat, easily won election that fall and went on to serve seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her time in elected office ended after a successful primary challenge by then-state Del. Thomas Hattery in 1992, but she remained active in local political circles for the rest of her life. On Sunday, Beverly Byron died of heart failure at her home in Frederick, her family said. She was 92. Born in Baltimore in 1932, Beverly was the daughter of Ruth and Harry Butcher. As a child, she lived in Washington, D.C., at the Wardman Park Hotel while her father served as a wartime Naval aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Beverly was a graduate of the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., and later attended Hood College in Frederick. She married Goodloe, the father of her three children, in 1952. Kimball on Monday recalled 'a cast of characters' rotating through the family's living room as he grew up to help with phone banking, printing campaign materials and keeping track of votes on election night. 'My mother organized all of it,' Kimball said. 'And you would not believe how organized it was.' As a congresswoman, Beverly frequently worked across the aisle and became known as a conservative figure in the Democratic party. She championed military and national security issues, serving as chair of the Military Personnel and Compensation subcommittee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. Roy Dyson, a Democrat who represented Maryland's 1st Congressional District from 1981 to 1991, served with Beverly on the Military Personnel and Compensation Subcommittee. In an interview on Monday, Dyson praised Beverly as 'very diligent' and 'a very hard worker' for whom he had great admiration. 'She was one of the people who was decent, who made Congress respected,' he said. Ron Young, whose tenure as mayor of Frederick overlapped with both Goodloe and Beverly's time in the U.S. House, said the congresswoman worked closely with officials in Frederick to achieve their goals over the years. He said Beverly has been 'an icon in Frederick for a long time, as has the whole family.' Goodloe, who represented the 6th District from 1971 until his death, was the son of William and Katharine Byron, both of whom also held the seat. Beverly's mother-in-law Katharine also won election to the 6th District seat following the death of her husband. Unlike Beverly, she only served one term. After leaving Congress, Beverly continued to be a leader in the community, chairing the boards of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, Maryland Technology and Development Corporation, and the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy. She was appointed in 1993 by then-President George H.W. Bush to serve on the Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Commission, which coordinated changes and closures for military bases after the Cold War. Tom Slater, who worked on the campaigns of both Beverly and her husband and who served for many years on the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee, said Beverly was 'very feisty' up until the end of her life. The Frederick County Democratic Central Committee in 2023 established the Beverly B. Byron award to honor women or women-led organizations for their support of Democratic women running for political office, Slater said. April McClain Delaney, a Democrat who was sworn in as the 6th District representative last month, remembered Beverly in a post on Twitter for her 'piercing intellect, dry humor, dogged persistence, long public service and her big heart.' 'I am the first woman in the 30 years following her tenure to represent Maryland's 6th District and have been privileged to come to know her incredible spirit and learn from her life experiences,' McClain Delaney wrote. 'At 92, she still kept abreast of every political development, was seemingly sharper than most half her age and even up to two weeks ago was calling me with sage insights. God bless you, Bev, for a life well lived in purpose and community, and a light for all to see.' In a statement on Monday, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Ken Ulman called Byron 'a trailblazer whose service to Maryland and the nation will leave a lasting legacy.' Former Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat who served in Congress with Byron, called the late congresswoman 'a great advocate for our state and a real champion for the United States military.' 'I worked very closely with Congresswoman Byron to bring resources to Western Maryland, jobs and opportunity for the region and support for men and women in the military,' Mikulski wrote in a statement. 'She was outdoorsy and I was indoorsy — we made a perfect combination,' the statement continued. In a statement on Monday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Beverly was a 'true American patriot and great Marylander' and 'a proponent for a strong national defense and American leadership around the world.' Mollie Byron, Byron's first grandchild, works as Gov. Wes Moore's senior adviser and director of intergovernmental affairs. In an interview on Monday, she said her grandmother shaped her interest in politics and public service. 'I could always call her and she would give me good advice. That was huge, and very rare and special that I got to have that,' Mollie said, adding that Byron had particular insight into the balance between being a mother and being active in politics. Byron is survived by her children Goodloe Edgar Byron Jr., Barton Kimball Byron, and Mary Byron Kunst; her daughters-in-law Jane Byron and Hannah Byron; and several grandchildren, including Mollie. Byron was preceded in death by B. Kirk Walsh, her second husband who died in 2019. A visitation for Byron will be held at Keeney and Basford Funeral Homes in Frederick on Feb. 24 from 3 to 6 p.m. A memorial service will be held on February 25 at St. Ignatius of Loyola in Ijamsville at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, Byron's family is requesting contributions be made to the American Heart Association and the Catoctin Land Trust.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Beverly Byron, former Md. congresswoman, dies at 92
Former Rep. Beverly Byron, who represented Western Maryland in the U.S. House for seven terms. Beverly Byron, part of a powerful and durable Western Maryland Democratic family and one of only 11 women elected to represent Maryland in Congress, died Sunday of heart failure at her home in Frederick, surrounded by several members of her family. She was 92. Byron came from a family steeped in public service — her father Harry Butcher was trailblazing radio reporter and the Naval aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II who coined the term 'fireside chats' to describe President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio addresses — and married into another one. Both of Byron's in-laws, William D. Byron and Katharine Byron, were elected to the 6th District congressional seat in Western Maryland, and her husband, Goodloe Byron, held the same seat from 1971 until his sudden death, while jogging along the C&O Canal, in October 1978. Beverly Byron replaced her husband on the ballot that fall and was elected easily, then won reelection to six additional terms. In a 2019 interview with Maryland Matters, Byron recalled being a newly widowed 46-year-old mother who suddenly found that she needed a job. A day after Goodloe Byron died, acting Gov. Blair Lee III (D) visited her home and urged her to seek her husband's seat. Byron had been active in her husband's political campaigns for Congress and the General Assembly but had never considered a political career of her own. Although Byron took 90% of the vote in that election, the state political establishment widely assumed she'd be a one-term placeholder, as her mother-in-law Katharine Byron had been following the death of William D. Byron in a plane crash more than three decades earlier. 'I was told, 'Well, we'll nominate her and she'll just serve one term and we can get a real candidate in there,' Beverly Byron said in the 2019 interview. 'Well, I don't think they thought I was going to stay for 14 years.' In Congress, Byron focused largely on military and national security issues. She eventually became chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and Compensation, and by her own estimate once held major sway over 40% of the Pentagon's budget. Byron was also the original sponsor of national 'Rails-to-Trails' legislation, helping expand the nationwide network of hiking and recreational trails. She was a major champion of the National Parks system and particularly boosted National Parks properties in Western Maryland — Antietam, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the 180-mile long C&O Canal National Historical Park. Byron was considered a conservative Democrat at a time when there were plenty of them serving on Capitol Hill, and she often supported the priorities of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush over the objections of her more liberal colleagues. In fact, it was Byron's ideology that likely doomed her political career: She lost the 1992 Democratic primary to Thomas Hattery, a liberal state lawmaker, by 12 points; he would lose the general election to Republican Roscoe Bartlett, who wound up serving for two decades until losing his own reelection bid, to Democrat John Delaney, in 2012. Now Delaney's wife, April McClain Delaney (D), holds the 6th District congressional seat. Even after her time in Congress ended, Byron remained active, chairing the boards of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, Maryland TEDCO and the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1993, Bush appointed her to serve on the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, which recommended changes and closures for military bases to Congress. She also served on the Defense Secretary's Advisory Committee on Women in Service, and helped to build the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. Byron followed political developments closely until the end of her life, friends and family members said, and she felt especially obligated to mentor younger women who were entering politics. Political leaders are starting to offer tributes to the late congresswoman. 'Sending so much love to the entire Byron family today with the passing of former Congresswoman Beverly Byron — their incredible matriarch,' McClain Delaney said in a statement. 'John and I so respected Bev for her piercing intellect, dry humor, dogged persistence, long public service and her big heart. As a trailblazing woman in Congress — when women comprised only 3% of elected members — she balanced family (as a solo parent!), service to the 6th District and incredible thought leadership. As the 'first woman in the 30 years following her tenure to represent Maryland's 6th District,' McClain Delaney said she felt 'privileged to come to know her incredible spirit and learn from her life experiences.' 'At 92, she still kept abreast of every political development, was seemingly sharper than most half her age and even up to two weeks ago was calling me with sage insights,' she said. 'God bless you, Bev, for a life well lived in purpose and community, and a light for all to see.' Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th), whose district once overlapped with parts of Byron's old district, said she 'never lost her passion for public things and the common good in her beloved Frederick County and in Maryland. She's been helpful to me from my first day in Congress, and I will always treasure her friendship.' Byron is survived by her children — Goodloe Edgar Byron Jr., Barton Kimball Byron and Mary Byron Kunst; her daughters-in-law Jane Byron and Hannah Byron; her grandchildren Mollie Byron, Hank Byron, Goodloe Byron III, Philip Byron, Garrett Byron, Byron Kunst, and Katherine Kunst; and her great-grandchildren David Owens, Kinsey Owens, and Charlize Byron. Mollie Byron is director of intergovernmental affairs and a senior adviser to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D). After Goodloe Byron died, the congresswoman married B. Kirk Walsh, a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in 1984, and they were together until his death in 2019. The Byron family said that visitation will be held at Keeney and Basford Funeral Homes in Frederick on Feb. 24, from 3-6 p.m. A memorial service will be held on Feb. 25 at St. Ignatius of Loyola in Ijamsville at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that contributions can be made to the American Heart Association and the Catoctin Land Trust. – This obituary may be updated.
