A celebration of the life of Lottchen (Lottie) V. Shivers will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 24 at Memorial Episcopal Church. She died in her Bolton Street home on Aug. 22, at the age of 101. Born in Cincinnati, Lottie spent 75 years in Bolton Hill. As BHCA President Lee Tawney said in the Sun, “she was the soul of Bolton Hill.” (https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/09/29/lottchen-lottie-shivers-obituary)
If you knew Lottie as a neighbor, you might be surprised to learn that she had a downright dynamic career. Her first Baltimore assignment was as an assistant to Owen Lattimore, a brilliant JHU Asia expert. This put her in the crosshairs of the Red Scare when Sen. Joe McCarthy unjustly persecuted Lattimore. Lottie and her husband, Frank, attended the 1954 McCarthy-Army hearing, where McCarthy’s influence was finally destroyed.
If you’ve ever wondered how Lottie, a well-organized person, was able to put up with the likes of us, and how she actually enjoyed the kinds of chaos that we Bolton Hillers are good at making, perhaps it had something to do with her having raised four children. Many of us can attest that the Shivers household was the liveliest in the neighborhood. You never knew which Shivers was going to be doing what, or asking about what, or talking about what. Somehow, Lottie kept the family train on the track.
If you’re thinking she must have been tired after that and maybe wanted to retire to a monastery in the woods, well, no. She went to work for Johns Hopkins Hospital. She administered surveys, which sounds ordinary enough until you realize she did so by driving around all parts of the city, knocking on all kinds of doors and making all kinds of people feel comfortable enough to give her honest answers.
After that, it must have seemed easy for her to make a business out of running the Baltimore/Washington segments of publicity tours for authors and artists. After four kids and Baltimore door-knocking, organizing Andy Warhol and the like were a piece of cake for Lottie. Her daughter and namesake, Lottchen, said of her mother, “She engaged with life around her with curiosity, intellect, good conversation and laughter.” Hundreds of us would agree.
The family invites everyone in Bolton Hill to the celebration of her life. In keeping with Lottie’s love of Bolton Hill, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, you contribute to the Lottie Shivers Greening Fund/Bolton Hill Community Association or the Memorial Episcopal Church Buildings and Grounds Fund.
–Charlie Duff
Colin Clark, a former resident of Lafayette Avenue and an Australian native, died in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 9. He was 87 years old. With his husband, Paul Bragaw, he created and operated Mr. Mole’s Bed and Breakfast on Bolton Street from 1991 until its closure in 2006. In the mid-nineties, Mr. Mole’s B&B was the only Four-Star Award accommodation (Mobil Travel Guide) in Baltimore City. From 2002 to 2015, the pair owned and operated the Abacrombie Badger B&B at 58 W. Biddle Street, across from the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. (https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/baltimoresun/name/colin-clark-obituary)
Dolph Druckman recalls the passing of his very special neighbor. “Colin Clark had the personality of a quiet cat—the kind of being who would silently enter a room and, by presence alone, wait to be asked why he arrived before quietly unleashing the (often outrageous) story of his arrival. Whether baroque, minimalist, or laden with silence, he always had a story to tell and could not wait to find a listener truly worthy of his most recent tale.”
Druckman continues, “I lived one door away from Clark and Bragaw for well over 20 years. As many have said, he was quite a character, a personality, and a detailed flâneur of everything around him. The children’s fairy garden that he began in the tree well at the doorstep of his home with Paul at 227 W. Lafayette says it all. The fact that it has grown with additions from children throughout the neighborhood is a testament to his gifts of presence, thoughtfulness, and kindness.”
Clark left Bolton Hill for his native Australia in 2025.
Matthew-Daniel Stremba
Matthew-Daniel Stremba died from complications of cancer on June 22. Born on Christmas Day in 1941 in Reading, PA, he grew up in a vibrant Byzantine Rite Ukrainian Catholic parish, whose traditions he loved throughout his life. He was 84 and was a storyteller, English teacher and writer.
His wife, Barbara Cates, wrote on Facebook: “Many of you who are in our Baltimore extended village know the story: nearly twelve years of metastatic prostate cancer and then a five-week roller-coaster ride through surgery and rehab to hospice, with so many blessings along the way. It was a peaceful and holy death, with close friends singing with me at his bedside. He is dancing with the angels with beloved Bobur the cat in his arms.”
Memorial services were held at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church on Sept. 26, on the eve of their 40th wedding anniversary the next day.
Matthew attended seminary in Stamford, CT, from his junior year of high school through college, and later continued theological studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., dropping out before ordination. In 1978, after several jobs in Southern Maryland, Matthew moved to Baltimore and focused on storytelling in a liturgical context. He invited local clergy to his “Service of Laughter,” where he met David Malone, then pastor at Brown Memorial Church.
According to Barbara, “Malone invited Matthew to practice his craft at Brown, where he also became acquainted with Barney Farnham at Memorial Episcopal Church.” Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he regularly shared his storytelling at both churches. “It was during this time that I met Matthew. We were married in 1986, with both the Revs. Farnham and Malone officiating at the wedding.
In 1987, Matthew and Barbara moved to the 1200 block of John Street, and Matthew began cultivating the garden, expanding container beds in front of the house and in the back alley. Beginning in 1990, Barbara’s postings for the U.S. State Department took the couple to Moscow, Trinidad and Tobago, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains of Russia. At each posting, Matthew learned about the local culture by volunteering as a storyteller or English teacher and learning the local language and music. Between postings, the couple returned to their Bolton Hill Home, returning permanently in 2004.
Matthew shared his stories with a wide audience of family and friends. For information about his writings, contact Barbara at catesbf@gmail.com.
—Sallye Perrin
Noell Damron
Noell Damron died at his home on Lions Park on Aug. 26, after experiencing multiple health issues. He is survived by his wife, Luz. The couple moved to Bolton Hill in 2006 and participated in many community events. In addition to neighborhood activities, the Damrons spent many years together helping rescue homeless cats in Baltimore.
The Dundalk native was known for being kind and generous. He graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Johns Hopkins University and Loyola University. He served as Chair of the Networking Department with the Community College of Baltimore County until his retirement earlier this summer.
I knew him as a gentle, kind man who was proud of his work at CCBC where, he said, many young Baltimore students, often the first in their families to attend college, were well trained and able to enter the growing field of cybersecurity and related technologies and earn professional status and salaries.
In addition to Luz Damron survivors include a son, Patrick Damron, and daughter, Jamee Damron-Larsen. He was preceded in death by his wife Susanna Charlton Damron and their daughter Kimberly “Kimber” Damron-Napier. There also are many cats. A memorial service will be held in the coming weeks. Noell was 83.
–Bill Hamilton
Dr. Christopher Kilmartin
Dr. Christopher Kilmartin, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at Mary Washington University in Frederick, died on Aug. 21. He and his wife moved to the neighborhood in 2025.
From his partner and wife of more than 33 years, Dr. Allyson Poska: I am terribly sad to announce the sudden death of Dr. Christopher Kilmartin after a heart attack. A Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, he retired in 2016 after teaching for more than thirty years at Mary Washington. He loved playing guitar and listening to music and was an avid golfer and consumer of gin and tonics.
A natural performer, he did stand-up comedy, performed in university productions, and wrote and acted in a solo theatre performance on men’s issues entitled Crimes Against Nature, which toured to over 150 campuses and other venues for a total of over 220 performances.
Chris was an internationally recognized expert on gender, violence prevention, diversity, equity and inclusion. A prolific writer, he is the author of five books, including The Fictions that Shape Men’s Lives, The Masculine Self, Men’s Violence Against Women: Theory, Research, and Activism, Overcoming Masculine Depression: The Pain behind the Mask, and Sexual Assault in Context: Teaching College Men about Gender. He served as a consultant on related issues with many institutions, including the US military, the United Nations, and the US Peace Corps.
He was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Air Force Academy in 2013-14, as well as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. He was also a Fellow in the American Psychological Association.
He is survived by three sisters, two brothers, four nieces and two nephews, and his partner and wife of more than 33 years. Dr. Kilmartin was 71.
