39.2868° N, 76.6201° W

BALTIMORE

Most Famous People Born in Baltimore, United States

Notable people
2,329
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1939
Most distinctive
Baseball 7.0×

A port city whose distinctive professions are baseball at seven times the global rate, basketball, and an unusually thick column of officers, novelists, and lawyers — the shape of a Mid-Atlantic city that has always sat at the meeting point of the Navy yard, the courts, and the literary establishment. Frank Zappa, Babe Ruth, Michael Phelps, and Edgar Allan Poe (who died here, not born) all belong to this bench, and the 19th-century tail is heavier than in most American cities its size.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Baltimore during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 245 notable births.

What Baltimore Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Baltimore's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (255).

Baltimore over-indexes on baseball7.0× the global rate.

Baltimore under-produces painter — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician255
  2. Actor189
  3. Baseball186
  4. Football149
  5. Basket102
  6. Lawyer88
  7. Writer66
  8. Music54
  1. Baseball1867.0×
  2. Basket1023.5×
  3. Officer422.7×
  4. Novelist232.5×
  5. Lawyer882.2×
  6. Music541.6×
  7. Actor1891.5×
  1. Painter350.6×
  2. Football1490.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Baltimore's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All2,329
Sort By

Showing 145 of 2,329 notable people

0006 PHILOSOPHER

John Rawls

1921 - 2002

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0027 POET

Adrienne Rich

1929 - 2012

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0036 POET

Frank O'Hara

1926 - 1966

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0053 WRITER

Leon Uris

1924 - 2003

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0073 ACTOR

Mona Freeman

1926 - 2014

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0087 BIOCHEMIST

Martin Rodbell

1925 - 1998

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0157 FILM

Arthur Rankin Jr.

1924 - 2014

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0171 POLITICIAN

William Donald Schaefer

1921 - 2011

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0183 MATHEMATICIAN

Edward F. Moore

1925 - 2003

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0188 SCULPTOR

Anne Truitt

1921 - 2004

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0189 PHILOSOPHER

Edmund Gettier

Born 1927

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0210 PHYSICIST

Robert Resnick

1923 - 2014

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0220 REPUBLICAN

J. William Middendorf

Born 1924

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0224 POLITICIAN

Marvin Mandel

1920 - 2015

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0261 POLITICIAN

Parren Mitchell

1922 - 2007

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0287 COMPOSER

Hank Levy

1927 - 2001

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0290 PIANIST

Ellis Larkins

1923 - 2002

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0294 PHYSICIST

Louis Witten

Born 1921

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0320 MILITAR

Jacob Beser

1921 - 1992

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0323 THEOLOGIAN

Jay E. Adams

1929 - 2020

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0338 CONDUCTOR

Johnny Mann

1928 - 2014

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0339 ACTOR

Lillian Hayman

1922 - 1994

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0360 PIANIST

Don Abney

1923 - 2000

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0404 PENCILLER

Sam Glanzman

1924 - 2017

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0409 ACTOR

Donald Symington

1925 - 2013

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0421 PIANIST

Dick Katz

1924 - 2009

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0437 COMPOSER

Tom McIntosh

1927 - 2017

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0472 FILM

Gordon Carroll

1928 - 2005

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0490 POLITICIAN

Norman Sisisky

1927 - 2001

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0519 PSYCHOLOGIST

Fitzhugh Dodson

1923 - 1993

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0530 POLITICIAN

Judy Agnew

1921 - 2012

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0551 WRITER

Robert Tralins

1926 - 2010

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0581 JOURNALIST

Robin Chandler Duke

1923 - 2016

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0637 AUTHOR

Jerome Kilty

1922 - 2012

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0649 GEOGRAPHER

M. Gordon Wolman

1924 - 2010

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0663 BASKET

Paul Gordon (basketball)

1927 - 2012

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0670 MUSIC

Bea Booze

1920 - 1975

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0671 SOCIOLOGIST

Hubert M. Blalock Jr.

1926 - 1991

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0687 POLITICIAN

Mike McCormack (politician)

Born 1921

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0691 LAWYER

Joseph Flom

1923 - 2011

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0697 BASKET

Charley Eckman

1921 - 1995

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0707 AUTHOR

Betty Leslie-Melville

1927 - 2005

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0748 SPORT

Frank Cashen

1925 - 2014

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0751 WRITER

Calvert Casey

1924 - 1969

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0752 PSYCHIATRIST

Frank Ayd

1920 - 2008

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0772 PRIEST

William Clifford Newman

1928 - 2017

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0785 OFFICER

Wesley A. Brown

1927 - 2012

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0805 ACADEMIC

Neena Schwartz

1926 - 2018

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0820 SOCIOLOGIST

Betty Lee Sung

Born 1924

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0825 ACTIVIST

Gloria Richardson

Born 1922

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0831 ACTOR

Slappy White

1921 - 1995

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0865 ACTOR

Lawrence Holofcener

1926 - 2017

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0885 PRIEST

Joseph Martin (speaker)

1924 - 2009

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0903 RABBI

Marc H. Tanenbaum

1925 - 1992

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0916 PAINTER

Hilda Thorpe

1920 - 2000

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0929 AUTHOR

Robert W. Faid

1929 - 2008

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0952 PHOTOGRAPHER

Stanley Tretick

1921 - 1999

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0972 PSYCHIATRIST

Joseph D. Lichtenberg

Born 1925

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1009 JOURNALIST

Susan Crosland

1927 - 2011

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1010 MUSIC

Yusuf Salim

1929 - 2008

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1024 WRITER

Sidney Offit

Born 1928

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1042 SPRINT

John Voight (athlete)

1926 - 1993

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1059 POLITICIAN

Thomas D'Alesandro III

1929 - 2019

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1065 BASEBALL

Cal Ermer

1923 - 2009

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1073 LAWYER

Alexander Harvey II

1923 - 2017

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1095 MILITAR

Charles P. Murray Jr.

1921 - 2011

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1099 MUSIC

Rose Lee Maphis

Born 1922

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1101 PHOTOGRAPHER

Ted Croner

1922 - 2005

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1102 TRUMPET

Ken Hanna

1921 - 1982

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1131 DIPLOMAT

William C. Harrop

Born 1929

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1139 FOOTBALL

Jim Ostendarp

1923 - 2005

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1165 MUSIC

Frank Minion

Born 1929

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1181 BASEBALL

Lou Grasmick

1924 - 2016

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1188 AUTHOR

Merrill Skolnik

Born 1927

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1278 ENTREPRENEUR

Chuck Gallagher

Born 1927

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1308 PAINTER

Joan Erbe

1926 - 2014

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1327 ENTOMOLOGIST

Henry Fuller Howden

1925 - 2014

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1332 DENTIST

John Hyson

1927 - 2009

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1345 LAWYER

Alfred H. Moses

Born 1929

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1348 SPORT

James Lauf

Born 1927

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1407 ACTOR

Mary Small

1922 - 2007

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1410 HISTORIAN

Geoffrey M. Footner

1923 - 2018

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1417 SPORT

Pat Peppler

1922 - 2015

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1424 COMPOSER

Stanley Weiner

1925 - 1991

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1435 DIPLOMAT

Christopher Van Hollen (diplomat)

1922 - 2013

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1447 POLITICIAN

Alan Sagner

1920 - 2018

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1512 TELEVISION

Royal Parker

1929 - 2016

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1537 ARTIST

Earl Hofmann

1928 - 1992

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1545 LAWYER

Walter Evan Black Jr.

1926 - 2014

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1614 LAWYER

Robert C. Murphy

1926 - 2000

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1633 POLICE

Bishop Robinson (police officer)

1927 - 2014

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1643 FOOTBALL

Art Brandau

1922 - 2001

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1672 MILITAR

Ernest W. Prussman

1921 - 1944

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1681 PRIEST

Joseph A. Panuska

1927 - 2017

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1687 LACROSSE

Elmer Wingate

1928 - 2016

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1715 BASEBALL

Ted Sepkowski

1923 - 2002

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1724 BIOLOGIST

Kenneth Sterling

1920 - 1995

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1726 BASEBALL

Dick Aylward

1925 - 1983

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1733 POLITICIAN

Georges Valade

1922 - 1997

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1751 SCHOLAR

Elmer Smick

1921 - 1994

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1752 POLITICIAN

Bernie Fowler

Born 1924

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1761 MILITAR

Carl V. Sheridan

1925 - 1944

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1782 OFFICER

John S. Walmsley Jr.

1920 - 1951

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1795 ENGINEER

Julian Sinclair Smith

1920 - 1993

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1799 POLITICIAN

Isaiah Dixon

1923 - 2013

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1831 VIROLOGIST

Wallace P. Rowe

1926 - 1983

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1857 ACADEMIC

David M. Kipnis

1927 - 2014

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1886 FOOTBALL

Ed Listopad

Born 1929

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1888 JUDGE

Francis Dominic Murnaghan Jr.

1920 - 2000

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1893 FOOTBALL

Bob Van Doren

Born 1929

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1924 MILITAR

Paul J. Wiedorfer

1921 - 2011

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1929 COACH

Jim Adams (lacrosse)

1920 - 2019

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1931 ASTRONOMER

Richard B. Dunn

1927 - 2005

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1939 EXECUTIVE

John P. Healey

1922 - 2019

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1980 POLITICIAN

William S. Hanna

1923 - 1994

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1982 BASKET

Jim Lacy

1926 - 2014

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2000 CIVIL SERVICE

Virginia S. Baker

1921 - 1998

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2045 LAWYER

Harrison Lee Winter

1921 - 1990

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2053 POLITICIAN

Andrew J. Burns Jr

1927 - 2010

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2058 JESUIT

Aloysius C. Galvin

1925 - 2007

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2066 FOOTBALL

Nicholas Kropfelder

1923 - 2012

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2067 COMEDIAN

Tubby Boots

1926 - 1993

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2088 BASEBALL

Spider Wilhelm

1929 - 1992

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2164 ACTIVIST

Bernice Smith White

Born 1924

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2173 LAWYER

Jack Heise

1924 - 2009

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2193 HORSE TRAINER

John J. Tammaro Jr.

1925 - 2001

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2196 FOOTBALL

Reid Lennan

1920 - 1979

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2205 FOOTBALL

Redmond Finney

1929 - 2019

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2216 LAWYER

George Kern

1926 - 2012

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2218 PRIEST

Tomás Roberto Patricio Manning

1922 - 2001

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2227 LACROSSE

Ray Greene (lacrosse)

1923 - 1987

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2233 RADIO

Flo Ayres

Born 1923

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2236 ENGINEER

Wendell E. Dunn Jr.

1922 - 2007

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2239 JUDGE

Martin V.B. Bostetter

1926 - 2014

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2253 BASEBALL

Gordie Mueller

1922 - 2006

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2254 JOCKEY

Sam Boulmetis Sr.

Born 1927

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2260 BUSINESS

Nathan Scherr

1923 - 2003

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2263 ADVERTISING

Victor Gustav Bloede (advertising)

1920 - 1999

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2270 BASEBALL

John Fick

1921 - 1958

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2286 POLITICIAN

Dolores G. Cooper

1922 - 1999

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2294 HORSE TRAINER

Edward I. Kelly Sr.

1921 - 2004

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2302 DRIVER

Harvey Eakin

1926 - 1973

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2307 OFFICER

Herman G. Tillman Jr.

1922 - 2012

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2322 BADMINTON

Patricia Stephens

Born 1920

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2323 EISENBAHN

William J. Holtman

1921 - 2014

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