Noray ''Rae'' Blackwell

Noray Blackwell (Rae), age 75, died Sunday August 31, 2008 at Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Maryland. She was a Harford County native and long-time resident of Aberdeen and Bel Air.

Rae Blackwell was born at Edgewood Arsenal on January 31, 1933, daughter of James R. and Blanche Sanders. Her father was a career soldier who had been Post Sergeant Major at Aberdeen Proving Ground and Rae moved around the world with her Army family before settling in Aberdeen. She graduated from Aberdeen High School in 1951.

While working on post at Aberdeen Proving Ground she met Sergeant James A. Blackwell whom she married at the post chapel on February 2, 1952. She had seven children: James A., Jr., Debbie, Donny, Sharon, Jeffrey, Carol and Robert. She has 16 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Rae was a member and elder of Grove Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen, where she also served as Secretary and President of the Grove Presbyterian Womans Association. She was a secretary at the church for over 10 years. She later worked for six years as a receptionist and case worker at the District Office of Congressman Roy Dyson in Aberdeen.

A recent resident at Brightview Assisted Living in Bel Air and Sunrise senior living in Montgomery Village, she is survived by a sister in Pennsylvania, two sisters in Havre de grace and a brother in Virginia.