Page 22 - Free State Spring 2023_WEB

OBITUARY
was the third wheel on a date she was on with someone else,” DEFINE
wrote a daughter, Allison June Akehurst, of Bellevue, Idaho, in a
biographical profile of her mother. The couple married in 1959.
Her husband had been a partner in Akehurst Nurseries with his
father and brothers until 1973 when he sold his interest in the
business and established Akehurst Management Associates, which
managed the Maryland Christmas Tree Association, the American
Conifer Society, and the Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Your Skyline
Greenhouse Association. He later renamed the business Quercus Inc.
After retiring in 1986, Mrs. Akehurst joined her husband in the
horticultural management company, which stages the Mid-Atlantic
Nursery Trade Show each winter at the Baltimore Convention
Center. “Nancy could be found strolling the floors greeting and
speaking with exhibitors, many of whom were long standing
friends and colleagues, or in the management office, ready to
assist any exhibitors with needs,” her daughter wrote in the profile.
Nancy B. Akehurst In addition, she also coordinated advertising for the Mid-Atlantic
April 12, 2023 Nurserymen’s Trade Show and was the publisher of Free State
Nursery and Landscape News, a monthly newsletter. The business
continues to be owned and operated by another daughter,
Nancy B. Akehurst, a retired Baltimore County elementary school Vanessa Lynn Finney of Lutherville.
educator who later worked with her husband in his horticultural Student and teacher were reunited about a decade ago, when Ms.
marketing business, died April 12 at MedStar Franklin Square Medical
Center of complications from a fall. The Perry Hall resident was 87. Schillinger saw a sign on Belair Road that had been posted by the
Woman’s Club of Perry Hall seeking volunteers to aid in roadside
“She was a very kindhearted, sweet and a matter-of-fact person, but cleanup efforts. “I called and the person who answered the phone
in the classroom, she came across as kind of strict and you knew you said, ‘Hello, this is Nancy,’ and I recognized her voice and said, ‘Is
better do what she wanted,” recalled Deborah S. Schillinger, a former this Mrs. Akehurst from Oliver Beach Elementary School?’ She said,
fifth grade student of Mrs. Akehurst’s at Oliver Beach Elementary ‘Yes, and I remember you. I used to give you pomegranates.’ I
School. couldn’t believe that she actually remembered me because I only
“But I got to know her from a different perspective. She asked for had her one year.” Ms. Schillinger joined the woman’s club. “I kept
volunteers to clean the chalkboards at the end of the school day, calling her Mrs. Akehurst, and she said, ‘I’m Nancy now,’ but it took
and because [she walked to school], I could do that,” Ms. Schillinger, some time for me to adjust to calling her that,” Ms. Schillinger said,
a longtime Perry Hall High School volunteer and substitute teacher, with a laugh. “Such a sweet woman.”
said. “She revealed a much softer side and would chitchat with us Mrs. Akehurst and her late husband, who died in 2001, were
about what was going on in our lives and asked if we needed extra adventurous world travelers.
help.”
One of Mrs. Akehurst’s favorite destinations were the German
Nancy Ann Brown, daughter of Enos Brown, a flour mill manager, Christmas markets. She and a close friend spent 25 days traveling
and Alma Brown, a registered nurse, was born in Lockport, New York. throughout China, and she sailed the Mediterranean around
As a teenager, she moved with her family to Middle River when her Greece with her late sister, Marie McIntire. She also enjoyed
father took a job at the old Glenn L. Martin Company. accompanying her daughters to New Zealand, Australia and
After graduating from Kenwood High School in 1952, she earned a Japan, and to beach vacations in Cape May, New Jersey.
bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1956 from what is now An accomplished seamstress, Mrs. Akehurst made Easter dresses,
Towson University, and her master’s degree in the discipline in 1971, school clothes and even bathing suits for her daughters. She also From sunrise to sunset, you know the value of your time in the greenhouse, and we understand
also from the university. Mrs. Akehurst began her two-decade career liked ceramic painting, macramé and quilting. the significance of your financial investments. No matter your view, Farm Credit is here to
teaching elementary students in Baltimore County Public Schools in An animal lover, she opened her home to a menagerie of cats,
1966 with stops at Mars Estates, Red House Run and Oliver Beach help you prepare for success.
elementary schools. dogs, hamsters, goldfish and the “occasional rabbit, snake or other
critter,” her daughter wrote.
Ms. Schillinger recalled coming from California to Oliver Beach Give us a call today to speak with an agriculture lender, ready to help you define your future.
Elementary and how Mrs. Akehurst helped smooth her transition. She was a member of Camp Chapel United Methodist Church in
“I was the newbie and shy, and when you’re in elementary school, Perry Hall where funeral services were held Saturday (April 15th).
that’s a big adjustment,” she said. “One day she brought a In addition to her two daughters, Mrs. Akehurst is survived by two
pomegranate to school and I said, ‘What’s that?’ I had never seen other daughters, Heather Lee Akehurst-Krause of Middle River and
one in my life, and she said, ‘Want to try it?’ and I said, ‘Sure.’ And she Natalie Ann Marano of Oreland, Pennsylvania; six grandchildren;
shared it with me. That’s the kind of kindhearted person she was.” and many nieces and nephews. A
Mrs. Akehurst met her future husband, Carville Milling Akehurst, “who The Baltimore Sun, Fred Rasmussen
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22 SPRING 2023 • Free State News