The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • B5

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER www.charlotte.com FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005 5BLOCAL By Wolfgang Saxon New York Times Trude Rittmann, a choral and dance-music arranger for Broadway favorites from to Sound of Mu- died Feb. 22 in Lexington, Mass. She was 96. A pianist and composer, Rittmann was first hired in 1937 by Lincoln Kirstein, president of the School of American Bal- let, and was a pianist for George American Ballet Caravan, a forerunner of the New York City Ballet. She was a concert pianist for the choreographer Agnes de Mille, who then took her on as dance arranger in 1943 when de Mille choreographed the Kurt Weill musical Touch of was an unsung art, performed mostly behind the scenes, with no Tonys and little public notice until fairly recent years.

Her forte was to take a theme or melody and mold it into ballet or the incidental music woven in for dramatic effect. Among the other luminaries who entrusted their work to her were Lerner and Loewe, Ir- ving Berlin and Jerome Rob- bins. In her years with the City Ballet, she adapted and shaped compositions by Aaron Cop- land, Elliott Carter, Virgil Thomson, Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein. On Broadway in 1954, she provided incidental music for Tinker Bell and Captain crew of pirates in for which she had already been musical arranger and coordina- tor in a 1950 production. She arranged the dances for (1947) and assisted Agnes de Mille in (1947) and Richard Rodgers in (1949), which ran for 1,925 per- formances.

She was the ballet or dance arranger, or otherwise musi- cally engaged, for other long- running productions such as King and (1951), You Were (1952), (1954), Fair (1956 and its 1976 revival), the original Sound of (1959), (1960), (1973) and Rob- (1989). Rittmann was born in Mann- heim, Germany. She started pi- ano lessons at 6, graduated from the Conservatory in Co- logne and had made a name for herself as an avant-garde com- poser by the time she arrived in New York in 1937. She contin- ued to compose music for bal- let and television while making her career on Broadway. She left no immediate survi- vors.

TRUDE RITTMANN Arranger lent her talents to musical theater She wove themes into ballets, incidental music Deaths in the News C. Rollyn Dalquist DENVER C. Rollyn Dalquist, who won an Emmy in 1967 for a documentary about prison inmates, died of heart failure Monday. He was 72. Dalquist worked at KMGH-TV in Denver when he won the Emmy for Road to a documentary he wrote, filmed and directed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Nell Caroline Roberts MORRISTOWN, Tenn. Nell Caroline Roberts, a globe-trotting bon vivant and one of oldest residents, died Sunday. She was 106. After teaching for a short time at Rose School in Morristown, Roberts moved to New York, where she worked as an administra- tor at the Greenwich Village YWCA for 33 years, said her niece, Margie Johnson. She befriended the likes of novelist Thomas Wolfe, baseball journalist Red Smith and Frederick Franklin, a primary dancer with the Ballet Russe, her niece said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Sara Stein Sara Stein, an influential advocate for gardening with native plants, died of lung cancer Feb. 25 at her home in Vinalhaven, Maine. She was 69. In Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back- Stein lamented the effects of traditional suburban land- scaping on her six-acre homestead in Pound Ridge, N.Y., three acres of which were scraped in the 1930s to provide topsoil for the 1939 New York Fair. She wrote how she and her husband had undertaken the pro- cess of or changing what had become an environ- ment of sterile lawn and plantings into carefully researched eco- systems representing swamp, prairie, rock barren and other native environments.

The result attracted birds, small mammals and other wildlife. NEW YORK TIMES Richard Lupino NEW YORK Richard Lupino, an actor and member of a distin- guished theatrical family, died of lymphoma Feb. 9 at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. He was 75. Lupino appeared on Broadway, in television series like Al- fred Hitchcock Hitchcock 20th Century Fox New Phil Silvers and in Holly- wood films, including (1954), (1960) and of the (1973).

NEW YORK TIMES John Barron WASHINGTON John Barron, an investigative reporter whose meticulously researched articles and best-selling books helped unravel the mysteries of Soviet espionage and the Khmer mass killings in Cambodia, died of pulmonary failure Feb. 24 at Virginia Hospital Center. He was 75. Trained as a reporter, Barron began his career as a spy in Cold War Berlin, working as a clandestine naval intelligence officer in the mid-1950s. In 1957, he moved to the Washington Star and quickly became the top investigative reporter, honored, among other things, for revealing the financial and ethical scan- dals surrounding Bobby Baker, a close adviser of the vice presi- dent (and later president), Lyndon B.

Johnson. WASHINGTON POST Jeanette Schmid VIENNA, Austria Jeanette Schmid, last professional whistler, who once shared a stage with Frank Sinatra, died of the flu in her apartment. She was 80. The newspaper Kurier reported her death Thursday but did not specify when she died. Schmid, better known as Baroness Lips von Lipstrill, was born as a man and underwent a gender change in 1964 in Cairo, where she lived for 15 years.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Deaths Elsewhere By Emily S. Achenbaum Staff Writer The Union County Board of Education is reviewing internal applicants first in its search for a new superintendent, and it might not take long: only one. Board chairman Phil Martin told the Observer Thursday that Assistant Superintendent of Ad- ministration Ed Davis was the sole Union educator submitting an application. The deadline for applications was Monday. In the past two weeks, the superintendent search has re- sulted in grow- ing controversy.

Some parents, and school board members Kim Rogers and John Crowder, feel the district is limiting itself by choosing to look internally first for a new su- perintendent. Those against the internal-first search want the search to be conducted inter- nally and externally at the same time an approach some re- gional districts have taken. is no way we can let that said parent Kristy Maher of Marvin. can only imagine the quality of applica- tions that would be flowing in. While I am sure some internal candidates are worthy, it perpet- uates the good boys Jerry Thomas, superintendent since 2000, will retire July 1.

Thomas, who has enjoyed nota- ble popularity during his tenure, was hired after an internal-only search that yielded three candi- dates. Davis, 49, said he can see the point of view: take it personally. not sure there is (one) way to do the search. I would respect the school decision, no mat- ter what they But for now, focus is on becoming superintendent. spent a lot of time in the school system and have strong feelings about this county.

on a good course, and like to keep us on that course and take us Davis said Thursday. Davis has worked for Union schools for 28 years, and his wife, Kathy, is a longtime middle school teacher. Board chair Martin says the decision to examine internal candidates first was the recom- mendation he received from the N.C. School Boards Association. Martin has said not com- pletely fair to put external candi- dates through the time-consum- ing interview process when in- ternal candidates are also being considered.

Board member Rog- ers said that make sense to her, as people applying to top positions in any field go in knowing inside candidates may be preferred. So how will the search committee proceed, now that it has a candidate? interview Martin said. Emily S. Achenbaum: (704) 289-6576; OBSERVER EXCLUSIVE Superintendent search yields 1 staff candidate Union County Schools looks internally drawing some criticism Martin By Bruce Henderson Staff Writer A federal licensing board ruled in Duke favor Thursday in the last remaining challenge to upcoming tests of contro- versial mixed-oxide fuel at its Ca- tawba nuclear plant on Lake Wy- lie. The board, named by the Nu- clear Regulatory Commission, ruled that Duke is entitled to ex- emptions from some security re- quirements in handling MOX, which contains weapons-grade plutonium.

Security at nuclear power plants is so sensitive that the decision was sealed from public view. The NRC instead sent out a two-page summary. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, which chal- lenged the MOX tests, said late Thursday that it would read the ruling before deciding whether to appeal it to the full commission. The NRC amended license, allowing the tests, last week. On Wednesday, Blue Ridge charged that the approval was il- legal because the security chal- lenge had not yet been resolved.

issuing the license amend- ment and exemptions before the (security challenge) concluded, the NRC staff has trampled the in- tegrity of the hearing said Diane Curran, the at- torney. Blue Ridge asked the NRC to deny Duke the ability to receive the test fuel. The NRC said license deci- sions can be made before all chal- lenges are settled. The commission extended the licenses for Catawba and McGuire plants in 2003 before ruling on an appeal filed by Blue Ridge. NRC spokesman David McIntyre said Progress Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Raleigh also got a license amendment in 2000 despite un- resolved challenges.

Steve Nesbit, MOX pro- ject manager, said Wednesday that Blue Ridge had a chance to protest the NRC finding last July that tests posed no signif- icant danger. Duke plans to install the test fuel at Catawba in May or June. Full-scale use about 40 percent of fuel at Catawba and McGuire could begin by 2011, making Duke the first U.S. utility to use MOX in commercial power plants. Blue Ridge has fought request for several exemptions from NRC security requirements for plutonium-handling facilities.

Duke says the exemptions are mi- nor and compromise safety. UPCOMING TESTS Ruling on fuel goes in Duke favor Board OKs exemptions to security requirements for handling MOX GREENSBORO Hispanic lead- ers from North Carolina are trav- eling to the capital this week to lobby against a bill that would deny licenses to illegal im- migrants. Opponents contend the effort unfairly targets hardworking im- migrants and could result in pub- lic safety problems as unlicensed drivers take to the roads. The bill, dubbed the ID could be voted on by the Senate next month. The House approved it in February.

something like Real ID passed, it would be devastating for many in our said Andrea Bazan Manson, director of the Raleigh-based Hispanic ad- vocacy group El Pueblo, which organized the lobbying effort. Proponents say they are trying to prevent another Sept. 11, 2001-type terrorist attack. Sup- porters of the act note that terror- ists involved in those attacks used licenses to board air- planes. An arrest this week in Greens- boro underscored how common it is for illegal immigrants to ob- tain a state-issued license.

Most of the nearly two dozen aircraft workers arrested Tuesday at International Airport for using counterfeit doc- uments had N.C. driver licenses they supposed to ASSOCIATED PRESS DRIVER ICENSES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Hispanic leaders Dorothy Virginia Harris Crawford Mrs. Crawford, passed away on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 and was preceded in death by her parents Roy and Beulah Russell and husband William M. Craw- ford. Acknowledgments and visitation will be on Friday, March 12, 2005 at with Deborah Chapter OES Ritual Service at 11:00 AM.

Body will lie in state from 10:00 AM until funeral service at 12:00 PM. Survivors are son Deacon Wil- liam A. Crawford (Wanda); daugh- ter Valda B. Crawford Jones (Pat- rick); sons Minister Gary E. Craw- ford (Vanessa), Rufus A.

Crawford; and daughter Donna B. Crawford Shands (Julius); brothers Roy Rus- sell (Melvin), John F. Russell (Inez); sister Mattie Russell; grand- children Brandon Dunham, Rae- shell, Shayla, and Alexis Crawford, Charlene and Patrick Jones, Deon- tae Sanders, Terry Thompson, Eb- ony and Laquisha Dockery, Ahmad and Juwan Shands; five great grandchildren; and special friend, Hubert Rivens. Services will be held at St. Paul Baptist Church, 1401 N.

Allen Street, Charlotte, NC. Alexander Funeral Home will be handling arrangements. Mrs. Maxine Elizabeth Bolding, 74, died March 8, 2005. Funeral is 12 Noon Friday at Fu- neral and Cremation Service; visi- tation is 11 AM.

Interment in Beat- ties Ford Memorial Garden. Harvey Blackmon Mr. Blackmon, 89, died Tuesday, March 8, 2005. Funeral is Saturday, March 12, 2005 at First Baptist Church-West. Visitation is 2PM at First Baptist Church (in state 1PM).

Burial will be in York Memorial Park. Survivors include son Harvey T. Blackmon (Rose); daughters Gwendolyn B. Mackins (Larry), Sallie B. Mayfield, Keisha Black- mon, all of Charlotte and Mildred Fletcher of Lancaster, SC.

Grier Funeral Service is in charge. William Spotswood Bishop Bill Bishop of Deveron Drive, Charlotte, passed on Wednesday, March 9, after an extended illness. Born August 21, 1925, in Brookneal, he was the eldest son of Samuel Jefferson and Madoline Puckett Bishop of Springfield, surviving his younger brothers, Melvin and Roy. A celebration of life will be held in the sanctuary at Providence Baptist Church at on Sun- day, March 13. A World War II veteran, Bill fought the Battles of the Bulge, the Ardennes and crossed the Rhine with Gen.

87th Army divi- sion as a 19-year-old sergeant. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart with clusters and three battle stars. Bill later graduated from Haver- ford College, Haverford, with a degree in political science and, after post-graduate studies at Drexel University, became an in- dustrial sales engineer, first with Foxboro Co. and later with James- bury until his retirement. He was an active member of Providence Baptist Church, serv- ing as president of the Christian Partners class for five years and tutoring students in the Jackson Park Ministries program.

Bill was a devoted husband to Ruth, his wife of 51 years, and a proud father, father-in-law and grandfather to Susan Bishop and Lee Buchanan and their daughter, Maggie, and Jodi and John Macko and their son, Will. Memorials may be made to Prov- idence Baptist Church, Jackson Park Ministries and Hospice at Charlotte. Carolina Funeral Service Cre- mation Center is entrusted with the arrangements. Mecklenburg SEE OBITUARIES NEXT PAGE Mr. Roosevelt June Daniels, 72, of Charlotte, died March 4, 2005.

Funeral is 2 PM Friday at Walls Memorial AME Zion; visitation 1 PM. Interment in Charlotte Memo- rial Gardens. Funeral Cremation Service in charge. Eldess Nash Crump Mrs. Crump, 79, formerly of Char- lotte, passed away Thursday, March 10, 2005 at Watauga Medi- cal Center in Boone, NC after a long illness.

Mrs. Crump, born December 18, 1925 in Union County to the late Raymond Lee Nash and Annie Brooks Nash, was a member of Briar Creek Road Bap- tist Church. She is survived by her daughter, Miriam Crump-McGowen of Deep Gap; her son, Rick Crump of Monroe; a brother, Furman Nash; two sisters, Hallie Randall and Helen Parker; three grandchildren; and one great grandchild. A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, March 12 in the Hankins Whittington Dilworth Chapel.

Interment will follow in Sharon Memorial Park. Mrs. family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Memorials may be sent to the Arthritis Foundation, 5019 Nations Crossing, Ste.

217, Charlotte, NC 28217. Arrangements are in the care of Hankins Whittington Dilworth Chapel, 1111 East online at www.hankinsandwhittington.com. John Frank Craig, Sr. Mr. Craig, 65, of 604 West Boule- vard, Charlotte, died March 6, 2005 at Carolinas Medical Center, Main.

Funeral service is 12:00 Noon Saturday, March 12, at Shiloh Insti- tutional Baptist Church, with Rev- erend Clinton Ceasar officiating. Interment will be in Beatties Ford Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 11:30 AM to 12:00 Noon Saturday at the church, prior to the service. Mr. Frank was born in Van Wyke, SC, and worked as a cement finisher.

He is survived by his wife, Wilma Craig; sons, Sammy Whi- teside, John F. Craig, Keith Craig (Janice Rena) and Robert Craig (Azalia); daughter, Ms. Debbie Craig Johnson; sister, Ms. Lillie Mae Craig, all of Charlotte; brother, James L. Craig of Port Huron, MI; 17 grandchildren; and 13 great grandchildren.

Alexander Funeral Home of Charlotte is in charge of arrange- ments. Ozzie Clay Mr. Clay, 62, former Washington Redskin, Real Estate Developer, and Businessman, departed from this life on March 8, 2005 at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. Mr. Clay was born September 10, 1942 in North Carolina.

Ozzie Clay was the husband of the late Janice Brown Clay, and is survived by his only son, Eric Clay; mother, Annie Walker Clemmons Clay; father, Johnny Lee Clay (Thomasina); brothers, Edward Clay (Rose), Leonard Clay (Doris); sisters, Linda Clay Grier, Debra and De- nise Clay; mother-in-law, Gladys D. Brown; sister-in-law, Marcia Brown Williams; brother-in-law, James B. Brown, and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. The family will receive friends from 6-8 PM Saturday at J.B. Jenk- ins Funeral Home, 7474 Landover Road, Landover, MD.

Funeral is 10:30 AM Sunday at Takoma Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church Sanctuary, 6951 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland, 20912. Church office (202) 829-4800. In- terment will immediately follow at Hickory Grove Memorial Ceme- tery, Hwy. 10, in Surry, VA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ozzie Clay Founda- tion, 13104 Ogles Hope Drive, Bowie, MD 20720.

J. B. Jenkins Funeral Home of Landover, MD is in charge of arrangements. Grier Funeral Ser- vice is in charge of local arrange- ments. Thomas Burch Mr.

Burch, 64, of 2201 North Popu- lar Street, died March 8, 2004 at Saturn Nursing Home. Funeral ser- vice will be held at 12 noon on Sunday at Berean Seventh Day Adventist Church. Burial will fol- low in Oaklawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. Born in Candor, NC, he was self-employed.

Survivors are his wife, Dorothy J. Burch of Charlotte; daughters, Ms. Lakisha Johnson of Brooklyn, NY, Ms. Geneva John- son, Ms. Mary Johnson and Mrs.

Tashaina Thomas, all of Charlotte, Mrs. Anette Jordan of Millville, NJ, and Miss Lavinis Burch and Mrs. Charlene Harland, both of Bridge- ton, NJ; sons, Mr. Thomas Johnson, Mr. Amos Burch, Mr.

Elijah Burch, and Mr. Octavius Burch, all of Charlotte, and Mr. Rodney Burch of Bridgeton, NJ; sisters, Miss Juanita Burch of Bridgeton, NJ and Miss Laurita Burch and Miss Cath- erine Burch, both of Milleville, NJ; a brother, Mr. John C. Douglas of Vineland, NJ; and 15 grandchildren.

A.E. Grier Sons Mortuary is assisting the Burch Family..