Ralph Curtis Hammer

Ralph Curtis Hammer of Centreville, MD died at Genesis Eldercare-The Pines, Easton, MD on Sunday, June 18, 2006. He was 92. Born March 29, 1914 in Franklin, Pendleton County, West Virginia, he was the son of the late, Curtis F. and Bessie Harmon Hammer. He grew up in Cumberland, MD where he graduated from Allegheny High School in 1933. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology in 1940 and a Masters of Zoology in 1942 from the University of Maryland. He was employed by the State of Maryland’s Department of Research and Education at Solomons Island, MD from 1941 until 1948 and then as Shellfish Biologist for the Department of Tidewater Fisheries from 1948 until 1961. From 1961 until 1965, Mr. Hammer worked as a project manager for C. J. Langenfelder, in Baltimore, MD. Returning to the newly re-named Maryland Department of Natural Resources, he was Natural Resource Specialist from 1965 to 1967, and then was Executive Secretary of the Board of Natural Resources, from 1967 to 1969. When Former Governor J. Millard Tawes was named Executive Secretary, he was named Chief Assistant. Mr. Hammer is responsible for starting the oyster replenishment program in the Chesapeake Bay. From 1970 until he retired in 1977, Mr. Hammer was Chief Extension Agent for the DNR. He received the Governors’ Conservationist of the Year Award in 1973. A former Annapolis Rotarian, he was an active member and officer for the Kent Island Idlers, a volunteer for the Hospice of Queen Anne’s County and attended the Kent Island Methodist Church Men’s Prayer Breakfast. He was a member of Centreville United Methodist Church and the Queen Anne’s County Farm Bureau. After retirement he enjoyed crabbing, fishing, traveling and tending his beehives, from which he harvested honey to give away to family and friends. Mr. Hammer is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary Margaret Lible Hammer of Easton; one son, Dr. Edward Hammer and his wife, Bette, of Centreville, MD; two daughters, Holly Hammer Hagelin and her husband, Karl of Stevensville, MD and Christine Hammer Wolff and her husband, Dan of Nags Head, NC; a sister, Nell Hammer Giaque and her husband, Warren of Adelphi, MD; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was pre-deceased by a sister, Ruth Hammer Frick and her husband, Elihu. Funeral services will be held at the Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P. A., Centreville, MD on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at 3:00 PM where family and friends may call from 2:00 – 3:00. Burial will be private at the Hillcrest Memorial Park, Cumberland, MD. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Eastern Shore Chapter, 213 West Main St., Suite 205, Salisbury, MD 21801-4871.