Celebrant

Matthew Ray Thompson, 41, of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., died Monday, Sept. 5, 2011, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, W.Va. The service will be Saturday at 7 p.m. at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, with the Rev. Larry Gesy as celebrant.

Florence Louise Lord, 82, died Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. The family will receive friends Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home, Martinsburg, W.Va. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church with Monsignor Patrick Fryer, celebrant. Burial will be in Rosedale Cemetery.

Martin Lawrence Hoffman Sr., 62, of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., died Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, at his residence. A funeral liturgy will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, with the Rev. John Ledford as the celebrant, assisted by Deacon David Galvin.

Barbara Edna Larrow, 60, of Charles Town, W.Va., died Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital. The service will be at noon Saturday at St. James Catholic Church in Charles Town, with the Rev. Larry Gesy as celebrant. Arrangements are by Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home.        

Mary T. Roberts, 97, of Vienna, Va., died Sunday, June 27, 2010, at Manassas Nursing and Rehab Center. Services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Berkeley Springs, W.Va., with Father Leonard A. Smith celebrant. Burial will be in Alba-Regia Memorial Chapel, Berkeley Springs. Arrangements by Hunter-Anderson Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Berkeley Springs.

Josephine Klein Knight, 83, of Inwood, W.Va., died Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, at St. Catherine's Nursing Home in Emmitsburg, Md. A Mass of Christian burial will be noon Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 at St. Leo Catholic Church, with the Rev. Brian Shoda, celebrant. Burial will be at St. Leo Catholic Church Cemetery. Family will receive friends from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Arrangements are by Brown Funeral Home.

Martha L. Thompson Anderson, of Martinsburg, W.Va., died Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012, at City Hospital. Family will receive friends Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home with a vigil service at 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church with the Rev. Ed Hall as celebrant. Burial will be in Rosedale Cemetery.

James Robert Roland, 95, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., died Friday, April 12, 2013, at Berkeley Springs Rehabilitation & Nursing. The family will receive friends Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at Helsley-Johnson Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Berkeley Springs. A Mass of Christian burial will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Berkeley Springs, with the Rev. Fr. Leonard A. Smith as celebrant.

Philip Anthony Constantino, 62, died Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011, at his residence. The family will receive friends Thursday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at South Berkeley Chapel in Inwood, W.Va. A Mass of Christian burial will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Leo Catholic Church with the Rev. Brian Shoda as celebrant. Interment prayers will be said at St. Leo Cemetery.

Domenic Anthony “Tony” Pistolesi, 87, of Hedgesville, W.Va., died Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, at his home. The family will receive friends Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va. A Mass of Christian burial will be Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. Pucciarelli as celebrant. Burial will be in Hedges Chapel at The Woods in Hedgesville.

Teachers and graduates exchanged hugs, high-fives and smiles on-stage Wednesday morning as more than 200 people celebrated the graduation of students from the Washington County Job Development Program and Marshall Street School. As each graduate was recognized, an administrator read a list of that person's accomplishments, including the jobs the graduate had at companies, schools and community organizations. “We have worked hard to reach our goals,” said graduate William McCrary IV, one of four student speakers during the ceremony at Hagerstown Community College's Kepler Center.

Lebanon Valley College's Inquiry 2013 coincided with the Council for Undergraduate Research's celebration of student research and achievement from April 14 to 20. Jared A. Hamilton of Shippensburg, Pa., was among the 185 student participants. Hamilton, a senior business administration major, presented “Comparing a German and an American SUV - The case of the 2012 Jeep Wrangler and 2012 Mercedes G550.” Hamilton is a graduate of Shippensburg Area High School. Andrew D. Suprock of Mount Airy, Md., also participated.

A “celebrate women”  event was held May 5 at the Women's Club in Hagerstown. The event was sponsored by the Miss Washington County/Miss Western Maryland Scholarship Foundation Inc.'s board of directors. Princesses and titleholders of the organization invited their mothers, grandmothers and special women in their lives. Also attending were girls from Blossom School of Etiquette and their director.  Mary Teal Mulligan, Miss Washington County 2012, was the mistress of ceremonies.  Tap dancers from Ballet and All That Jazz entertained, as well as the current titleholders.

Tina Schaubroeck of Greencastle walked around the track at Kaley Field with a renewed pep in her step during the American Cancer Society's 19th Annual Greencastle Relay for Life on Saturday. “I just found out this past March that I am free of breast cancer,” said the 41-year-old teacher at Mowrey Elementary School in Waynesboro, Pa. After being diagnosed in December 2011 and losing most of 2012 to cancer treatments, Schaubroeck is determined to make every second of her life count.

The choral performance of “This Could be the Start of Something Big” on Friday night by Barbara Ingram School for the Arts students kicked off “A Celebration of Firsts” presented by the school's foundation at Hager Hall in Hagerstown. The fundraising event featured performances by the school's seniors and recognized the work of retiring principal Michael T. Thorsen. Through ticket sales and sponsors, the performance-packed event raised about $30,000 for the school and the artist-in-residence program, said foundation executive director Mimi Dickinson.

In 1949, Anna Brugh Singer traveled to Hagerstown to dedicate the addition of two wings to the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, including the Singer Memorial Gallery. She and her husband, William, had originally given the museum to Hagerstown and Washington County in 1930. To establish the museum's collection, the Singers gave generously of their own art collections and encouraged gifts from friends and associates who helped to foster the museum's growth over its first 25 years.

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Longmore celebrated their 60th anniversary on May 5. The couple, who wed at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Old Town Alexandria, Va., on May 2, 1953, marked the day with family and friends at Dutch's Daughter Restaurant in Frederick, Md. Mr. Longmore was born Feb. 10, 1928, in Elmer, N.J., the son of James Albert Longmore and Lilliam M Fox. He grew up in New Jersey and enlisted in the U.S. Army during the final months of World War...

Student achievement was recognized at the annual Washington County Public Schools Celebration of Excellence on May 15 at North Hagerstown High School. The highest achieving students in the Class of 2013 were recognized. Students honored have achieved a 3.7 or higher grade-point average through the halfway mark of their senior year, with 146 students having achieved a GPA of 4.0 or higher. A total of 298 students were recognized and are listed below: Brianna Adams - South Hagerstown High School Victoria Albert - Clear Spring High School Serge Aleshin-Guendel - Boonsboro High School Zeyzhan Aliyeva - Washington County Technical High Ethan Allnutt - Boonsboro High School Dylan Appel - Clear Spring High School Sydne Arnold - South Hagerstown High School Lisa Artz - Williamsport High School Morgan Bain - Washington County Technical High Khalib Baker - South Hagerstown High School Khyri Baker - South Hagerstown High School Alexandrine Bakuaya - South Hagerstown High School Jared Banzhoff - Smithsburg High School Daniel Barr - Smithsburg High School Hudson Barrett - Hancock Middle-Senior High School Ashleigh Baxter - Smithsburg High School Halima Bayoh - North Hagerstown High School Scott Bennett - Boonsboro High School Nicholas Berchock - Williamsport High School Shayna Bickford - South Hagerstown High School Shannon Bishop - Clear Spring High School Meghan Blair - Washington County...

On Sunday at 2 p.m., the community is invited to an outdoor Sunday afternoon worship service, Blessing of the Seeds, to celebrate and bless the 2013 Growing Project at the farm near Wolfsville, Md.  In its eighth year, the project is supported by nine churches: Grossnickle, Hagerstown, Welty, Harmony, Beaver Creek, Myersville and Manor Churches of the Brethren, Holy Family Catholic Church and Christ Reformed United Church of Christ, Middletown, Md. ...

Mildred Hays never set out to make it to 100 years old. But then, as a mother of 10 children and widowed in her mid-30s, she didn't have much time to think about it. “I was just doing everyday living,” she said. “But I'm thankful to be 100.” Hays hit that milestone April 28, and on Saturday, about 160 family members gathered at Virginia Avenue Church of God to celebrate with her. Many were locals, while others traveled from Montana, Massachusetts, Michigan and Florida.