Honora Wohlgemuth

Mary Honora Wohlgemuth of Annapolis passed away on April 20, 2023, surrounded by her children. She was born on May 25, 1926, in Baltimore to the late James Joseph Whelan, Jr. and Mary Eleanor Whelan. Honora grew up in Baltimore, attending All Saints Elementary School, Trinity Preparatory School, and Forest Park High School. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Maryland in 1949, where she was a member of the Newman Club and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Upon graduation, she worked as an elementary school teacher in the Baltimore City public schools during the tumultuous times of school integration.

In January, 1955, she married George Francis Wohlgemuth at Immaculate Conception Church in Towson, and they were happily married until his death in 2019. A series of corporate moves for his job with International Paper Company took them to Evanston, IL, New Rochelle, NY, Short Hills, NJ, Winnetka, IL, Los Altos, CA and Summit, NJ, where they settled for 30 years. Upon George’s retirement, they returned to Maryland and spent 20 wonderful years in Sherwood Forest until a final move to Ginger Cove Retirement Community in Annapolis. From wherever they lived, Honora and George returned every summer to his family’s cottage on Bembe Beach in Annapolis, where George taught her and their children a love of sailing and the Chesapeake. After their children were grown, they explored the world, with sailing trips to the Caribbean and travel to Europe, where they visited their ancestral homes in Ireland and Germany.

Honora and George raised seven children, and she was involved in all their activities. She served as a Girl Scout leader and on many PTA and school committees, and attended countless sports games, school programs, and Girl Scout and Boy Scout events. During their years in Summit, she was a volunteer at Overlook Hospital and worked with developmentally disabled children in the Title I program. Honora was an excellent bridge player and found new bridge groups and partners everywhere she lived. She was a devoted grandmother and loved hosting her grandchildren for Sherwood Forest summer camp, and attending almost every baptism, first communion, confirmation, graduation and wedding, along with many, many sports games and school events.

In addition to her parents and husband, Honora is predeceased by her brother, James Joseph Whelan, III, a daughter, Mary Patricia Herse, and a son-in-law, John Cassin Sutor. She is survived by her children, George F. Wohlgemuth, Jr., of Lincoln, NH, James Wohlgemuth and his wife, Caroline, of Washington, DC, Margaret (Peggy) Wohlgemuth of Severn, Daniel Wohlgemuth and his wife, Leigh Kettanah, of Hollis, NH, Honora (Norie) Sutor, of Annapolis, and Mary Katharine (Katie) Devitt and her husband Larry, of Annapolis, as well as 16 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

A funeral mass will be held at St. John Neumann Church, 620 Bestgate Road, Annapolis on Thursday, May 4 at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bello Machre, 7765 Freetown Road, Glen Burnie, MD 21060, bellomachre.org, a nonprofit organization which Honora and George were proud to support and which provides loving care for adults with developmental disabilities, including their daughter Peggy.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared on this website.