Today's Obituaries and Guest Books

Mrs. Rosemary Hermann Ackerman, 81, passed away peacefully at home, June 17, 2013, surrounded by her loving family.


She was the beloved wife of Frederick N. Ackerman. They would have been married 58 years on June 25.


Born on December 10, 1931, on the family ranch 20 miles southwest of Lemmon, South Dakota. She was the daughter of the late Adolph and Irma (Dittmer) Hermann.


Rosemary grew up on the family cattle ranch and during her elementary school years attended a one-room country school. She graduated from Lemmon High School in 1949. After which she graduated from Business School in Rapid City, SD. She was offered a job working in Washington, DC, on Capitol Hill as a secretary for Congressman E.Y. Berry. Through a blind date she met Fred Ackerman, on weekend leave from the Navy. Fred and Rosemary eventually married on June 25, 1955. They eventually established their family home in Wheaton, Maryland. She later became an executive secretary at Touche Ross (Deloitte and Touche) until her retirement in 1996. In the meantime, Rosemary and Fred raised two daughters, Susan and Janet. In 2001, Fred and Rosemary moved to Frederick, Maryland, to be closer to their daughters who had already established homes there.


Rosemary loved her family very much. Her greatest joy was being surrounded by her family, the more the merrier. Everyone loved to come to Sunday dinner at Nana and Pop Pop's house. She cooked for 20 to 25 people with ease and love almost weekly. She loved to sew and made her daughters many clothes in their younger years. Rosemary had a soft spot for animals and her daughters had a menagerie of pets growing up. She loved wildlife and her bird feeders were always full and squirrels were kept well fed. She was not a swimmer but braved the water, and she spent many weekends with Fred on their sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay enjoying his company and loved when their children joined in for some weekend crabbing and sailing. Rosemary took great pride in her home and kept it meticulous inside and out. She had a green thumb and loved working in her yard, still push mowing it last fall. Her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all their friends loved to visit Nana. Rosemary always had a kind word for everyone and never spoke bad of anyone.


In addition to her husband, Rosemary is survived by two daughters. Susan Rowley, husband Robert, and their children Krystal, Melany, Alyssa, and great grandchildren Logan and Loralie Hegg. Janet Martin, husband Ben, and their children Tyler, Chelsey, Emily, and Layke. She is also survived by her brother Wilmer Hermann and wife, Betty, of Arizona, and brother Roger Hermann of Montana, along with many other dear relatives.


Rosemary was preceded in death by her grandson, Bradley Martin, September 9, 2007, and her brother, Frank Hermann, February 9, 2005.


The family will receive friends 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, 2013 at Stauffer Funeral Homes, P.A., 1621 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick. Funeral services will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 21 from the funeral home chapel. Officiating will be Pastor Cary Moorman of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.


Interment will follow at Resthaven Memorial Gardens.

If desired, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Frederick County, P.O. Box 1799, Frederick, MD 21702.


Expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family at staufferfuneralhome.com.

Brandon Coates, 24, left this life suddenly on June 15 2013.


Enjoying life and always wearing a smile, Brandon would be your best friend, your go-to guy and would help anyone who asked.


He leaves to cherish his memory his loving parents Monique and Carroll (Bo) Coates; a loving girlfriend Alyssa Colbert, three foster sisters Nicole Gilmore, Nicole Brown and Sandra Garcia; loving Grandmothers Carrie Ballard and Rosalie Brown Gross; Grandfather Kendal "K.D." Gross, 11 aunts Ursula, Yvonne, Christine, Michele, Debbie, Wandalee, Charlice, Olivia, Linda, Wanda and Gail; 8 uncles Rupert "BoBo" Cury, Gary, Bill, David, Uncle Jimmy, Gregory, Kim and Gary and a host of cousins and numerous relatives and friends.


He was preceded in death by his brother Kendal Tanner Coates.


Family will receive friends from 10 am until service 11 am Saturday, June 22, 2013 at Saint Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, 4103 Prices Distillery Road, Ijamsville, MD. The Rev JR Pinkney will officiate.


Arrangements by Snowden Funeral Home.

Donald Lee Fritz Sr., 49, of Keymar, died unexpectedly Monday, June 17, 2013 at his home. Born April 14, 1964 in Gettysburg, PA, he was the son of James R. and Marjorie Hahn Fritz, of Emmitsburg.



Mr. Fritz was a graduate of Francis Scott Key High School. He was employed as a mechanic for S.W. Barrick & Sons, Woodsboro. He was a former member of Keysville United Church of Christ. Donald enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing his guitar.


Surviving, in addition to his parents, are daughter, Shelby Jean Williams; sons, Donald Lee Fritz Jr. and Russell Franklin Fritz; sister, Carol Ann Drake; long-time girlfriend, Rebecca Canipe; 3 grandchildren, and several aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends at Hartzler Funeral Home, 310 Church St., New Windsor, on Thursday, June 20 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. A funeral service will be held on Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home with Deacon Charles E. Barnhart Jr., officiating. Interment will be in Union Cemetery, Keysville.


Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.hartzlerfuneralhome.com.

Mr. Bernard L. "Butch" Gelwicks, 79, of Cascade, Maryland, passed away Sunday, June 16, 2013, in Frederick Memorial Hospital. Born February 7, 1934 in Emmitsburg, Maryland, he was the son of the late James Francis and Carrie Adelma (Grimes) Gelwicks.
Mr. Gelwicks worked for the Thurmont Co-op after High School, and then for various construction firms. For several years, he installed towers in the US and Mexico, but he spent most of his life in the Thurmont area. He was employed for almost 20 years with Moore Business Forms, before his retirement. He enjoyed local history, gun raffles, and the lottery; he loved to plant a huge garden, which always produced a bountiful harvest.


For the past eighteen years, he shared his life with his companion, Elaine M. Shaffer, his "Dovie" who preceded him in death on May 19, 2013.


He is survived by his children Robert C. Gelwicks (Sonya) of Hagerstown, Thomas D. Gelwicks (Melissa Lewis) of Cascade, Rev. Betty Sue Koenig (Michael) of Thurmont and Tamera D. Bane (Carroll) of Walkersville; grandchildren Lindsay Tosten (James), Michaela Gelwicks, Dustin Bane, Kara Bane, Randy Gelwicks, Carrie Gelwicks, Chelsea Gelwicks, Thomas Koenig and Robert Koenig; great-grandchildren Nathaniel, Craig and Tianna Tosten, Mason and Noah Nichols, and DeSean Brown; brother Joseph (Helen) Gelwicks and sister-in-law Virigina Gelwicks. Ms. Shaffer leaves two children, Tony (April) and Alisha; and four grandchildren. Many nieces, nephews and friends also survive.


He was also preceded in death by his former wife, Betty L. Miskell, his brother Robert Gelwicks, and an infant brother.


A memorial service will be held at the Graceham Moravian Church, 8231-A Rocky Ridge Road, Thurmont, MD, 21788, on Sunday, July 7 at 2 pm. Visitation will be one hour before the service.


Contributions may be made to the Graceham Moravian Church, at the above address. Online condolences may be expressed to staufferfuneralhome.com.


Arrangements by Stauffer Funeral Home, Thurmont.

Mark A. Griffith Sr. died on June 11, 2013, at the age of 83, at Kline Hospice House in Frederick, MD.


Mark spent his personal and business life dedicated to the community of Pearl River, NY until retiring to Frederick, MD in 2009. Anna Laura pre-deceased him in 1987. In 1992 Mark married Pearl River, NY teacher and administrator, Joanne Shalkop (nee Hagenbuch).


Too young to enlist in WWII like his older siblings Dexter, Thomas and Aline, one of Mark's proudest accomplishments, at age 12, was collecting scrap metal, for the war effort.


During the Korean War, Mark who placed in the top 3 of a class of 350, was sent into the Mediterranean to intercept Russian enemy codes and transmissions as a Communications Specialist.


Mark received many awards for his work with the Independent Insurance agents as well as working to develop a specialized
program that jointly insures all the school districts in Rockland County NY. He served as volunteer insurance advisor for the Methodist Churches in Rockland and the State of New Jersey. Now 72 years later, the Griffith insurance Agency is in its fourth generation with the addition of grandchildren, Mark III and Lauren Griffith. Mark completed the four-year course of study in accounting at Alfred University earning his degree in business in only two years.


He embodied his faith as a member of the Pearl River Methodist Church, active in all aspects of the church. After moving to Frederick he joined the Walkersville United Methodist Church. For ten years he served on the Lederle Animal Care Committee ensuring humane treatment of laboratory animals. Mark was President of the Pearl River Rotary Club, founding member of the Rotary Scholarship Foundation and awarded the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship exemplifying the ideals of "Service Above Self".

Mark is survived by his loving wife Joanne, children Mark Jr., Chestnut Ridge, NY; Diane Griffith Smoley (Raymond) Frederick, MD); sister Aline (Condesa de Romanones) Madrid, Spain; brother Thomas (Mary Gray) Goshen, NY; brother William Jr., Beaufort NC; twin sister Margaret (Peggy) Crosby Frankford, DE; and grandchildren Mark III, Michael, Lauren Griffith and Jonathan and Raymond Smoley, Jr. He is predeceased by brother Dexter Sr.


A memorial service will he held at the Walkersvifle United Methodist Church, 22 Main Street, Walkersville, MD on Friday evening at 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations kindly be made to Kline Hospice House, 516 Trail Ave., Frederick, MD 21701.

Mary Ellen Sullivan Woodson of Easton died Friday, June 14, 2013, at Memorial Hospital in Easton. She was 90.


Mrs. Woodson was born January 25, 1923, in Walkersville, MD to the late Frank Grimes and Maude Green Grimes. She graduated from Walkersville High School and worked as a beautician in New York City.


In 1945, she married Lt. J.G. Brinton E. Sullivan, USN, and moved to Washington for a short time, where their son, Roll, was born. The family moved back to Maryland in the 1950s where Mrs. Woodson and her husband owned and operated Sullivan's Antiques in New Market, MD for more than 30 years. Shortly after her husband's passing in 1983, she moved to Easton, MD.


In 1999, she married Pendleton Woodson, and the couple resided in Easton, MD. Mr. Woodson died in October 2011.


Mrs. Woodson is survived by her son, Roll A. Sullivan and his wife Mary Beth of Easton; four grandchildren: Jennifer Sullivan Brych, Sarah Sullivan Wheedleton, Matthew Sullivan and Mary Katherine Sullivan Thomas; and five great-grandchildren; Mia Isabelle Wheedleton, Cooper Jaroslav Brych, Clara Anna Wheedleton, and two to be born in the fall.


A private funeral service was held on June 16, 2013. A private interment will be held at a later date in Culpeper National Cemetery in Culpeper, VA.


Arrangements are being handled by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., 200 S. Harrison Street, Easton, MD.

For online tributes, please visit fhnfuneralhome.com.