Time Passages

I've been waiting on someone else to propose a  specal memorial obit for a close friend of mine; I wanted his obit  to  be the first here as a sort of commeration to the memory of  my friend. But regrets,  that obit has not been  forthcoming  in a  timely manner,  and  Life waits for no one.  So, I'm going to  wait just a day or two longer into the New Year, and  if I don't receive my special friend's obit  I'm  going to just start posting with the most recent obits I'm  privvy to.

GHS-Staff: Thomas Watts Stevenson, RIP

GHS Principal from 1968 til 1975,  Thomas Watts Stevenson, 89, Chambersburg, PA, died this past Sept. 20, 2011, at The Shook Home in Chambersburg, PA. He was the son of the late John Stevenson and Vava (Head) Stevenson.

He was born on a farm near Loch Lynn, Maryland, raised in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. He was a resident of Garrett County, Maryland, until 1956, a 1938 graduate of Oakland High School and a 1942 graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Mr. Stevenson studied at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and was awarded a Master of Education degree from the University of Maryland at College Park. A veteran of World War II, Mr. Stevenson served in the Army Air Corps from 1943-1946.

He taught for Garrett County Public Schools from 1946-1955, and then ultimately settled in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he was a teacher, administrator, and principal at Poolesville High School and Gaithersburg High School. He retired from Montgomery County Public Schools in July, 1975. He moved to Pennsylvania in 1988.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara (St. Clair) Stevenson; one son, Thomas Watts Stevenson, Jr., husband of Betty (Wynkoop) Stevenson, Greencastle; one daughter, Vava Claire (Stevenson) Schroeder, wife of Willard John Schroeder, Jr., Las Vegas, Nevada; four step-daughters, including Kimberly Shifler, wife of Jeffrey, Middletown, PA; Judith Snyder, wife of David, Chambersburg, PA; Cynthia Betz, wife of Terry, Chambersburg, PA; Amy Diehl, wife of Tony, Chambersburg, PA; one brother, Robert Head Stevenson, husband of Martha, Damascus, Maryland; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; twelve step-grandchildren; and eleven step-great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his two sisters, Kathryn (Stevenson) Helbig and Dorothy (Stevenson) Stahl; two brothers, Mahlon Stevenson and John Stevenson; and one step-grandchild, Lauren Betz.

In his leisure time he enjoyed camping, hiking, fishing, spending time on the C&O Canal, and attending plays at the Kennedy Center, the Totem Pole Playhouse in Pennsylvania, Shady Grove Music Fair in Maryland, and the Garrett County Playhouse. He was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was active in the C&O Canal Association and Civil War Roundtable. He was a member of the American Legion in St. Thomas, Pennsylvania, and a past member of the Lions Club of Laytonsville, Maryland.

Services will be private and will be held at the convenience of the family. Memorial contributions can be made to the C&O Canal Association, P.O. Box 366, Glen Echo, MD, 20812; or the Garrett County Historical Society, 107 S. Second St., Oakland, MD 21550.

LiveJournal Tags: Staff

Greetings!

Here we celebratce and share the life  & times of fellow Gaithersburg High Scool alumni who have moved on in the Great Cirle of Life  - their lives  and our memories of them are   here on this blog.

Submissions  for publishing  at this time must be emailed to ghs.allalumni@gmail.com   WITH the following  FORMAT in the SUBJECT LINE of your post:
GHSYYYY obit  - First Name, Last Name  OR your obit MIGHT NOT be posted BECAUSE the posting process will be   automated  by Gmail filter RULES.

"NOTE: Entries for obits  require  4 numeric digits for the class year of our fallen alumni AND the word "obit" in the subject line.