Obituaries

Father Thomas T. Polk, a priest who threw himself into urban ministry and later led a fast-growing parish in Frederick County, died Nov. 10 after battling dementia for several years. He was 69.

Hundreds of friends and family gathered at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland May 8 to celebrate the life of Yeardley Love, a senior lacrosse player at the University of Virginia and 2006 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson.

As pallbearers slowly guided Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder’s casket out of Immaculate Conception Church in Towson following his Dec. 12 funeral Mass, approximately 120 priests and deacons united their voices in a final tribute to their brother clergyman. A solemn church bell tolled every few seconds while the white-robed men chanted “Salve Regina” in Latin […]

Christopher J. Coffland, a Baltimore native, was killed by a roadside bomb Nov. 13 in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. The Army reservist, who had joined the military a month before he reached the enlistment age limit of 42, had been in Afghanistan for two weeks working as an intelligence specialist.

“He reminded them that the life of every human being was no mistake,” Father Carey said. “God had wonderful plans for each of them.”

Father Kevin W. Brooksbank, a 35-year-old associate pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Baynesville, died May 25 at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson after battling a viral infection and kidney failure.

Father Wayne G. Funk, the longtime pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick who was known for his encouraging, pastoral presence, died Feb. 16 at Frederick Memorial Hospital. The 70-year-old priest had battled cancer for nearly five years.