Sharpsburg

“I commend Bob Parasiliti for an outstanding article about Aaron Miller and his battle with leukemia. I have never read an article that has moved me as this one did. As a parent, and also a person who suffers from an autoimmune disease, it is great to see the medical care was able to help this young man to overcome this great obstacle and be able to have a fulfilling life ahead of him. I wish him and his family the best.” - Kearneysville, W.Va....

We lost a dear, deer friend in Bucky To the editor: On Saturday, March 16, we got the phone call that we were dreading. Bucky, the lovable, tame, Sharpsburg-area “pet” deer was dead, with a rope around his neck and caught in a fence. In June of 2011, Jeff and Doris Shumaker found a very small, newborn deer lying in the road. Its mother could not be found, so Jeff and Doris adopted this sweet little baby and raised him. He was named “Bucky,” and his home for several weeks was a cardboard box. Often, he got many rides in Jeff's truck.

At a time when the U.S. Postal Service is recommending cutting Saturday service, it is actually adding outlets for customers in the form of village post offices such as the one at May's Service Center at 8708 Sharpsburg Pike, where a grand opening ceremony was held Friday. May's Service Center is the 200th village post office to open since the USPS introduced the idea in 2011. “As our financial situation at the Postal Service has changed, it has become more and more important for us to find ways to be relevant in the communities we serve, and not just have our own brick-and-mortar solution,” said David Fields, the vice president of the service's Capitol Metro Area.

Because of the famous poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, who spelled the name "Frietchie," Frederick, Md.'s elderly matron has earned a place in history. She allegedly challenged Confederate troops marching through that town to respect the Union flag she flew defiantly, while offering herself as a sacrifice. But, she was far from alone in risking life and property during the Civil War to display her loyalty to preserving the union of our country. Frederick County, Md., has offered additional stories of its own and Washington County can claim a share of valiant women who staked themselves firmly behind the cause of keeping the country whole.

An operation by Maryland State Police near Sharpsburg last year prompted two Washington County legislators to introduce a bill during the current session of the Maryland General Assembly requiring the chief of the primary law enforcement agency in a county to be notified before an officer from another agency serves a warrant in areas within a county's jurisdiction. That bill died in committee, but the two legislators behind that bill - Del. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, and Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington - are supporting another bill with amendments they say would achieve some of the same objectives.

Birthdays March 16 - Peyton Rauth, Waynesboro, Pa.  turned 5. March 17 - Alma Morrison, Chestnut Grove Road, Sharpsburg, turned 81; Lori Willman, Clear Spring, turned 50. March 18 - Bella Marie Bachtell, Maugansville Road, turns 1; Gary Hammond, Main Street, Sharpsburg, turns 72; Sarah Louise Bond, Hagerstown, turns 89; Mary Bushey, Cavetown, turns 98. Anniversary March 18 - Kathy and Craig Wilt, Alexander...

William H. “Bill” Canfield, 71, of West Chaplin Street, Sharpsburg, Md., passed away Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown. Born Sept. 9, 1941, in Keedysville, Md., he was the son of the late Herbert and Freda (Clipp) Canfield. He attended Boonsboro High School. He was employed by BFI Trucking of Williamsport. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Katherine “Faye” (Gift) Canfield, whom he married July 31, 1970; son, Scott Canfield and wife, Andrea, of Sharpsburg; sister, Darlene Albritton and husband, Jim, of Sharpsburg; brothers, Arthur Canfield and wife, Mary, of Keedysville and Charles Canfield and wife, Carmen, of Sharpsburg; granddaughter, Nicole Canfield and fiancé, Jason Griffith, of Sharpsburg; canine companion, Smokey, and great-granddog, Zim; nieces and nephews.

Harold Theodore "Bud" DeLauney, 84, of Sharpsburg, Md., passed away Friday, March 15, 2013, at his home. Born Feb. 10, 1929, in Sharpsburg, he was the son of the late Theodore Franklin and Miriam Adams DeLauney. He was a graduate of Boonsboro High School. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He retired from the B&O Railroad and then retired from Shepherd College. He was a lifetime member for more than 60 years and past commander of American Legion Post 236 in Sharpsburg.

John William "Spunk" Rohrer, 82, of Hagerstown, Md., and formerly of Sharpsburg, Md., passed away Wednesday, March 6, 2013, at Holly Place in Hagerstown. Born Sept. 15, 1930, in Sharpsburg, he was the son of the late Harry Glenn and Donaline Virginia Eichelberger Rohrer. He was a graduate of Boonsboro High School in Boonsboro, Md. He was employed by Fairchild Aircraft and previously by Massey Ford, both of Hagerstown, until retiring in 1988. In his early years, he was an avid bowler, and enjoyed dirt track and NASCAR racing.

A 26-year-old woman who was killed after being struck by a Jeep along Sharpsburg Pike in front of her house Monday night was an information technology consultant who had worked around the country, according to her roommate. Although Priyanka Malik was from India, she had traveled back and forth between India and the U.S. a number of times and had worked in Delaware, California and New York, said Mary Myers, who lived with Malik in a house across the street from a Food Lion at the intersection of Lyles Drive and Sharpsburg Pike.