Carroll Wilhide

Carroll Maurice Wilhide, 97, of Detour, died peacefully Tuesday morning, Nov. 11, 2008, in the home of his birth, following a brief illness.

Born June 30, 1911 in Detour, he was the son of the late Maurice Jacob and May Haugh Wilhide. He was the husband of the late Edith Victoria Yoder Wilhide who died January 13, 1987. They were married for 50 years.

He was a 1929 graduate of Union Bridge High School and a fourth-generation Carroll County dairy farmer. Along with wife Edith, he created and operated, with their sons, the Key De Blue Farm.

With the help of the Carroll County Extension, he became a progressive leader of land stewardship, serving 12 years on the Soil Conservation Board. He was farm bureau director in the 1940s and served on the board of the former Davis Library in the late 1950s when the Bookmobile was begun.

He was a charter member of Carroll County DHIA and Maryland Artificial Breeding Cooperative. He was a strong advocate of community and regional dairy milk cooperatives through Maryland Cooperative Milk Producers. He helped plan and build the original Agricultural/4-H Center. He was active in the Elmer Wolfe PTA and served on the Francis Scott Key building committee.

He was a charter member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and served several terms as director of farm credit. He served several terms as supervisor of the Carroll County Conservation Board, two years as president.

He was a life-long member of the Keysville Evangelical Lutheran Church and attended regularly until his recent illness. He taught Sunday School over fifty years and also served on the church council.

In his later years, he was a member of the Taneytown Senior Citizens' and the Church of the Open Door Super Sixties group in Westminster. He loved bus trips, spending time with his close circle of friends, especially Florence Flickinger, and attending summer birthday parties with family and friends.

He was very fond of recalling seeing Babe Ruth play baseball and enjoyed following professional sports teams. He also enjoyed attending local PenMar and Taneytown sandlot baseball games. Carroll enjoyed reminiscing about the progress of farming and agriculture practices from the horse and buggy days through today.

Surviving are children and spouses, Richard and Elyne Wilhide, Myron and Joyce Wilhide, Jane and Ben Coffman, and Beth and Gary Cross, all of Detour; sisters, Margaret Norcott of Ojai, Calif., Eleanor Fry of Carney; sister-in-law, Ruth Wilhide of Keymar.

Also surviving are 10 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

He was pre-deceased by brothers, Lloyd, Mehrle, and Clyde Wilhide; and sisters, Louise Durboraw and Dorothy Minnich; and by great-grandchildren, Hope Yvonne Myers and Isabelle Rose Wilhide.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 14, at Keysville Evangelical Lutheran Church with Deacon Charles E. Barnhart Jr. officiating. Interment will follow in Keysville Union Cemetery in Keysville. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home, 136 E. Baltimore St., Taneytown and 10 a.m. Friday, until the time of service at the church.

Memorial contributions may be made to either, Keysville Evangelical Lutheran Church Camp Fund, 7301 Keysville Road, Keymar, MD 21757 or to Hospice of Frederick County, 516 Trail Ave., P.O. Box 1799, Frederick, MD 21702.

Pallbearers will be his grandsons, and great-grandsons, Andrew Wilhide, Ryan Cross, Robert Cross, Kevin Carmack, Darin Lease, and Derek Lease, honorary pallbearer will be Robert Jones.

Online condolences may be made to the family at MyersDurborawFH.com.