Richard E. Diggs

Richard Earl Diggs, of Columbia, died April 17, 2008, of a vascular disorder, at Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham. He was 68.

Born Oct. 28, 1939, in Baltimore, to Richard Gray and Grace Parker Diggs, he graduated from high school in Baltimore in 1958.

He graduated from Morgan State College in 1962 with a Bachelor of Art degree in education.

He married Carolyn Hairston in 1979.

Mr. Diggs worked as an art teacher for 12 years at the Maryland State Children's Center in Catonsville. He went on to teach art at Central High School in Prince George's County in 1991. He had been employed by the school for the last 17 years.

He was predeceased by his parents.

In addition to his wife of 29 years, he is survived by two sons, Jonathan Diggs, of Baltimore, and Richard McDade, of Atlanta; two daughters, Adrienne Diggs, of Owings Mills, and Leah Diggs, of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren, Richard Diggs III, of Baltimore, and Jessica Diggs, of Virginia.

Funeral services were held April 23, 2008, at Grace Presbyterian Church, in Baltimore.

Interment followed at Columbia Memorial Park.

Wanda E. Teitloff

Wanda Ellen Perrin Teitloff, of Valrico, Fla., formerly of Columbia, died March 26, 2008, at her residence of Parkinson's disease and cancer. She was 77.

Born Jan. 24, 1931, in Carrsville, Ky., to Clifford and Mamie Perrin, she attended Livingston County High School in Carrsville.

From the late 1940s until 1966, Ms. Teitloff accompanied her husband, who was an Air Force master sergeant, to various locations in the United States, as well as to Italy, where she worked as a secretary for the Finance Office in Italy for three years, and raised her five children.

Ms. Teitloff earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science in 1973 and a master's degree in economics in 1975, both from Murray State University in Kentucky.

She taught economics for 20 years at various colleges and business schools in Chattanooga, Tenn., prior to retiring in the 1990s, and moved to Florida in 2001 to live with one of her sons.

Ms. Teitloff was predeceased by parents, Clifford and Mamie Perrin; and a daughter-in-law, Jackie Teitloff.

She is survived by three daughters and two sons-in-law, Rebecca and John Brennan, of Columbia, Ellen Stroud, of Roanake, Va., and Carol and Lynn Sanden, of Sarasota, Fla.; two sons, Jeffrey Teitloff, of Valrico, and David Teitloff, of Santa Monica, Calif.; 11 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren, Ariel, Vincent and Gabriella Gipson, all of Columbia, and Clarissa and Austin Hodge, of Valrico; two nieces; and four nephews.

Memorial services are scheduled for June 29, 2008, in Kentucky.

Memorial donations may be made to any cancer or Parkinson's disease research organization, or to a hospice.

Ronald N. Waronoff

Ronald Norton Waronoff, of Columbia, died April 21, 2008, of renal carcinoma, at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 76.

Born June 18, 1931, in Washington, D.C., to Abraham "Red" and Miriam Waronoff, he graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School, in Washington, D.C., in 1951.

In 1950, he and his family moved to Detroit and he joined the U.S. Air Force the following year. He was based in Japan and served as a statistical draftsman. He was discharged in 1955.

Mr. Waronoff returned to Detriot and worked for five years for several architectural firms in Detroit. In 1961, he graduated from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Mich. with a bachelor's degree in construction engineering.

That same year, he started working as a store planner and coordinator, first working for Hughes & Hatchers, a clothing store in Michigan, now defunct.

He married Marlene Ruth Meretsky in 1979.

In 1983, he moved to Baltimore in order to continue working as a store manager, this time for JoS. A. Bank Clothiers.

He left that position in 1991 in order to begin his own sales consulting business, called Norton Enterprises, in Columbia, which specialized in school equipment. The business is affiliated with Intelligence Signage, with the main office in Delaware. Mr. Waronoff operated the business until this year, at which time the main office took over.

In addition to his wife of 28 years, Mr. Waronoff is survived by two daughters and two sons-in-law, Lisa and Bill Barnett, of Farmington Hills, Mich., and Laurie and Rob Freeman, of Farmington Hills; three stepdaughters, Sandra Freedman, of West Bloomfield, Mich., Gayle, and her husband, Jeff Fogel, of Clarksburg, and Heidi, and her husband, Richard Knight, of Columbia; two brothers, Marvin Waronoff, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Henry Waronoff, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and six grandchildren, Shana Rose Freedman, of Colorado and Florida, Mitchell Barnett, of Farmington Hills, Jason Barnett, of Farmington Hills, Victoria Knight, of Columbia, Olivia Knight, of Columbia, and Amanda Freeman, of Farmington Hills.

Funeral services were held April 23, 2008, at Sol Levinson & Bros. Inc., in Baltimore.

Interment followed at Columbia Memorial Park.

Memorial donations may be made to: The American Cancer Society, 8219 Town Center Drive, Baltimore, MD 21236 or to: Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care, 555 W. Towsontown Blvd., Towson, MD 21204.

Mourning took place April 23-26, in Columbia.

David L. Shurkin

David Lee Shurkin, of Columbia, died April 22, 2008, of a heart attack, at his residence. He was 57.

Born July 29, 1950, in Baltimore, to Morris and Elizabeth B. Shurkin, he graduated from Northwestern High School in 1971.

In the 1980s, he graduated from Catonsville Community College with an Associate in Arts degree.

Mr. Shurkin worked as an instructional assistant for the Howard County Public School System for 11 years, five of which were at Mt. Hebron High School.

He was a member of Wilde Lake Karate, where he was a sword instructor, and Washington Kendo Club, both in Columbia.

Family members recall that he practiced the martial arts of Kendo, Jodo, Iaido, Tae Kwan Do and held several black belts. He also liked writing, fencing, rock wall climbing and other athletic activities. He is remembered as a lifelong learner.

Mr. Shurkin was predeceased by his father, Morris Shurkin.

He is survived by his mother, Elizabeth B. Shurkin, of Baltimore; his life partner, Peggy Marie Hoch, of Columbia; a daughter, Kiana Mariah Shurkin, of Columbia; and a cousin, Larry Nathan Stein, of Baltimore.

A graveside service was held April 25, 2008, at Arlington Cemetery, in Baltimore.

Memorial donations may be made to American Cancer Society, 8219 Town Center Drive, Baltimore, MD 21236.

Dorothy G. Fried

Dorothy Gwen "Dottie" Fried, of Leesburg, Va., formerly of Columbia, died April 24, 2008, due to complications from cancer, at Loudoun County INOVA Hospital. She was 65.

Born Jan. 27, 1943, in Flint, Mich., to Max Henry and Dorothy Taylor Graff, she graduated from a high school in Michigan in 1961.

She studied dance at The Juilliard School for a year in the late 1950s, then went on to study dance at the University of Michigan in the 1960s.

She never earned an undergraduate degree, but because she had vast dance experience, she was admitted to American University, where she earned a master's degree in dance in the early 1980s.

Ms. Fried performed around the country in the 1970s. At that time, she founded the Long Island Modern Dance Company, in a space that served as a choreography and teaching studio.

In the late 1970s, she moved to Los Angeles, where she renamed the company the Manning-Fried Dance Theatre and appointed her life-long friend, Harry Precht, the ensemble's co-director. For three years, she taught and ran the company, which has since disbanded.

In the 1980s, she became a faculty member in the dance department of Towson State University, now Towson University, where she established a children's dance program and another program for student dance teachers. Both programs are still running today.

In 1982, Ms. Fried co-founded the Kinetics Dance Theatre School and Company, in Ellicott City. She served as its director for 10 years. She also started up a dance summer camp in 1985, which ran until 1994, when she left Kinetics. The company is still active today.

Jen Dorsey, a member of the Kinetics company who started dancing with Kinetics in second grade, said that in addition to the dance studio, Fried also had a performance series and would bring in dancers from other companies to expose her students to other artists.

"She was very strong-willed, and a wonderful teacher, who had a wealth of information about dance that she was able to pass on to us. It was exciting to start with modern dance since most dancers start with ballet. It was one of the biggest moments of my life. I knew that I wanted to continue. She really knew how to bring out the best in people as far as dance and commitment and knew how to push people to their physical and mental limits," Dorsey said.

Priscilla Kaufold, the artistic director of Kinetics, and a fellow American University alum, was hired by Fried to set modern dance pieces.

"She gave me a wonderful break. It was hard going initially, but she made it work. It was a great experience," Kaufold said.

Fried "was very strong willed and creative and knew exactly what she wanted. She got out of people things that (performers) may not even know they possess," added Kaufold. "She could get people moving and grooving.

"She fought for what she wanted and knew what was the right thing for art and the community. People whose lives she touched ... are still kind of in awe of her," added Kaufold.

Ms. Fried ran children's summer arts camps, at St. Mary's College, called Day Country Summer Camp in the 1980s and '90s.

Her choreography credits include works performed by Kinetics, as well as several musicals such as "The Nutcracker" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" at area colleges.

Ms. Fried served as a community organizer in Texas and Arizona as well as for the Southeast Community Organization (SECO) in Baltimore, from 1998 to 2001. She focused on helping schools in urban areas to organize students and improve tests scores.

In 1998, she moved from Arizona to Columbia. Here she operated the Arts PlayCare Center, out of her home, from 2001 to 2007.

Ms. Fried moved to Leesburg in 2007 in order to care for her grandchildren, whom she described as "the joy of her life."

She was predeceased by her father, Max Henry Graff.

Ms. Fried is survived by her mother, Dorothy Taylor Graff, of Frankenmuth, Mich.; her longtime companion, F. Keith Nichols, of Leesburg, Va.; two daughters and a son-in-law, Carlotta Fried, of Leesburg, and Jennifer and Paul Oliver, of Ashburn, Va.; two sisters, Patricia Arvilla, of Frankenmuth, Mich., and Mary-Lou Hesler, of Hudson, Fla.; a brother, Hank Graff, of Grand Blanc, Mich.; two granddaughters, Amanda Oliver and Amber Oliver, of both of Ashburn; close friends, Austin Nichols, of Washington, D.C., and Harry Precht, of Long Island, N.Y.; and many other relatives and friends.

Funeral services are slated for Friday, May 2, 1 p.m., at Loudoun Funeral Home Chapel, 158 Catocin Circle, SE, Leesburg, Va.

Interment is slated to follow at Union Cemetery in Leesburg.

Memorial donations may be made to the Columbia Foundation, 10227 Wincopin Circle, Suite G15, Columbia, MD 21044.

Sylvia Erber

Sylvia Erber, of Red Hook, N.Y., formerly of Columbia, died April 23, 2008, due to natural causes, at the Jewish Home and Hospital in Bronx, N.Y. She was 90.

Born Nov. 11, 1917, in New York City, to Robert and Martha Dolinko Schwartz, she graduated from a high school in the Bronx in 1934.

She married Ernest Erber in 1935.

Mrs. Erber was a homemaker who was involved in social justice causes, having campaigned for Norman Thomas, a presidential candidate and politically motivated activist, in the early 1930s.

In the late 1960s, she taught clerical skills to half-way house residents who lived in New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area, for six years. She also served as executive secretary for The Appalachian Highland Association, a conservation organization in New Jersey for five years in the early 1960s; advocated for senior rights and health care in Maryland; and was a founding mother of the Bard Life Long Learning Institute at Bard College, in Annadale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

While a resident of New Jersey, she participated in movements for civil rights, fair housing, environmental protection and housing for low-income people.

In 1981, after retiring from her position as a researcher at the National Council of Senior Citizens, in Washington, D.C. for five years, she reconstituted the Senior Advocates of Howard County and became the chairperson.

She relocated from New Jersey to Columbia in 1972, where she served for seven years on the Howard County Commission on Aging, until 1993, serving as a representative at the United Seniors of Maryland, a nonprofit coalition of organizations representing 800,000 members, whose purpose is to advocate for legislation on behalf of the senior citizens of Maryland, in Towson; testified before the State Legislature and the Howard County Council on housing and other issues affecting the elderly; and served on the executive committee of the Senior Affairs Division of Maryland Citizen Action.

She was also a member of the Columbia Democratic Club.

Family members recall that she was an avid reader, who loved the arts. She is described as a life-long activist who cared about issues regarding the improvement of life in our country and abroad. Mrs. Erber contributed to a regular monthly column published by the Senior Connection, for whom she wrote about public issues that affected seniors.

In 1990, she was honored by the Howard County Commission for Women for her "dedicated efforts and leadership for the people of Howard County," naming her an unsung heroine. The following year, she and several other individuals founded the Howard County Health Care Coalition, which sought to define issues that led to the health care debate and to advocate for the single payer plan.

In addition to her husband of 73 years, she is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Elena Erber and Bernard Greenwald, of Red Hook; a son, Eric Erber, of Hyde Park, N.Y.; a sister, Ilka Suarez, of the Bronx; and three grandchildren, Sasha Pearl, Isiah Greenwald and Benjamin Greenwald, all of Red Hook.

Graveside services were held April 29, 2008, at Montrepose Cemetery in Kingston, N.Y.

Shiva was sat on April 29, 2008, 7 p.m., at 24 Fisk Street, Red Hook, N.Y. 12571.

Online condolences may be made at www.SimpsonGaus.com.

Douglas S. Spear

Douglas Stuart Spear, of Ellicott City, died April 23, 2008, due to metastatic colon cancer, at Howard County General Hospital. He was 68.

Born April 30, 1939, in Baltimore, to Edwin Hanley and Lottie Tyler Spear, he graduated from Severn School, an independent college preparatory, in Severna Park in 1957.

He later graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in business.

He married Elizabeth Ruark in 1979.

Mr. Spear worked as a controller for Westinghouse Electric Corp., in Linthicum. He retired in the early 1990s.

He was a member of Habitat for Humanity in Baltimore City for five years and Bethany United Methodist Church in Ellicott City for 10 years, during which time he served on the church's board of trustees in the finance committee.

Mr. Spear served as a volunteer tax preparer for AARP in Howard County for the last 10 years.

Family members recall that he enjoyed traveling with his wife.

He was predeceased by his parents, Edwin Hanley and Lottie Tyler Spear.

In addition to his wife of 29 years, Mr. Spear is survived by four sons, Douglas Stuart Spear Jr., of Glen Burnie, Stephen Hanley Spear, of Cockeysville, Erik Lee Barnes, of Santa Monica, Calif. and Jesse Carville Barnes, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a brother, Richard Tyler Spear, of Plano, Texas; two nieces; and seven grandchildren.

Funeral services were held April 26, 2008, at Bethany United Methodist Church in Ellicott City. The Rev. David Simpson presided.

Interment followed at Crest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Marriottsville.

Memorial donations may be made to: Bethany United Methodist Church, 2875 Bethany Lane, Ellicott City MD 21042 or to: American Cancer Society, 1100 Ireland Way, Suite 300, Birmingham AL 35205.

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