William Carrington March

THE MAN William C. March, the son of the late Rev.Carrington and Georgia March, was born on February 4, 1923 in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. He departed this life and went to Glory on Friday, August 2, 2002 after a long illness, surrounded by his immediate family. At the age of five, his father’s Lutheran ministry brought him to live in Baltimore. Raised in East Baltimore, he attended both Dunbar and Douglass High Schools. He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict. He attained the rank of Master Sergeant. He recently received a commendation and the Jubilee Medal from France for his participation in the invasion of Normandy. Using his benefits under the GI Bill, he attended the American Academy of Mortuary Science in New York. Finding it difficult to obtain an apprenticeship to get his mortuary license, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service to support his family. He continued to pursue his goal of becoming a funeral director for the sake of providing a quality education for his children. He worked at the post office at night and build his funeral business during the day. He retired from government service after more than thirty years. Mr. March is survived by his business partner and wife of fifty-nine years, Julia Roberta March, four children; Cynthia March-Malloy, Erich W. March, Victor C. March, Sr., and Annette March-Grier, thirteen grandchildren; one sister, Doris Wright, and one brother, Edward March; two daughters-in-law, Priscilla W. March and A. Lola March; two sons-in-law, Dr. Walter N. Malloy and Arthur D. Grier and a host of other relatives. THE ENTREPRENEUR William was the founder of March Funeral Homes, one of the largest African-American owned funeral service companies in the United States. He started his family owned funeral business in 1957 in a single row house on East North Avenue. The business grew steadily until 1978 when the firm moved to a newly constructed funeral home that occupied an entire city block. In 1985, Mr. March built a second facility in West Baltimore. Mr. March received numerous awards and recognition as a leader in the funeral industry for his innovation and his commitment to providing dignified services for everyone regardless of their financial situation.In 1973, in partnership with three other funeral directors, he founded King Memorial Park, a 50-acre cemetery in Baltimore County catering the African-American community. In 1992, the March family acquired ownership of the cemetery and recently expanded it to 154 acres making it the largest black owned cemetery in the country. Mr. March was a co-founder and the first Chairman of the Board of the Harbor Bank of Maryland, Maryland’s first minority owned commercial bank. Currently, the bank controls more than $200 million dollars in assets and is listed in Black Enterprise Magazine’s top performing minority controlled financial institutions.THE SERVANT Known as “the funeral director with a heart”, his reputation for helping families bury love ones when they had little money for such needs spread throughout Baltimore. His belief that providing funeral service was not just a profession but a ministry and that all God’s children deserved dignified burial. As a young man he admired his sister, Thelma, and her academic achievements. He sold newspapers before dawn to help pay for his sister’s college tuition. When she died in a tragic fire during her first year of college he vowed to cherish her memory by helping others to attend college. He fulfilled that vow in 1982 when he established the Thelma March Scholarship Foundation. The foundation provides scholarships to college bound students from historically black Dunbar and Douglass High Schools. To date the foundation has helped forty students attend the college of their choice. He also made it possible for more than forty individuals to achieve their dream of becoming licensed morticians by assisting them with tuition to attend Mortuary School. Many of them now have gone on to start their own businesses.Known for his generosity and civic-minded activities, Mr. March helped the effort to restore the Orchard Street Church, a historic landmark that was used to shelter slaves on their way to freedom along the Underground Railroad. He supported numerous charities and countless churches and his many acts of kindness will go forever unnoticed and unpublicized. THE HUSBAND He met the love of his life at the age of fourteen in 1937. He married his childhood sweetheart, Julia Roberta Hayes, in 1943, shortly before going to war. From this union were born four children, Cynthia, Erich, Victor and Annette. For six years of courtship and fifty-nine years of marriage the pairing of “Will and Bert” has been a storybook love affair. Through the Great Depression, through war, through uncertain times, through financial risks, through sickness theirs has been an unflinching and now undying devotion to each other.He not only made Roberta his wife, but also his partner and together they dreamed, struggled and succeeded. THE FATHER His goal of providing his children with the educational opportunity he never had was the driving force that caused him to work one hundred hours a week, during the day at the funeral home and at night at the post office. He never asked that any of his children should work in the funeral business, but rather that they pursue their own dreams. Needless to say, after all his children received the quality education he worked so tirelessly to obtain, they all followed in his footsteps and furthered their education in mortuary science and are all licensed morticians.He raised his children to help bereaved families in their time of need whenever help is needed and to use whatever talents they have to give service to the community. Giving back was his philosophy and he instilled that philosophy in his children. All of them serve in some capacity with charitable organizations and community revitalization efforts. In 1988, at the age of 65, Mr. March demonstrated fatherly confidence in his children and retired. He turned the daily operation and administration responsibilities of the business over to them and continued to watch and guide with fatherly love and pride as the business continued to flourish. THE BELIEVER The son of a minister, he took the Bible at its word. He proved it true to its promise.His favorite passages were Proverbs 3:5-6 and Matthew 25:34-40. His life was based on his trust in God and having a charitable heart for his fellow man. His father, the late Reverend Carrington March, was the Associate Pastor of St. Matthews Lutheran Church. After his father’s death, he locked the doors to the small church and led the dwindling congregation to merge with Our Savior Lutheran Church, where he served as the President, Treasurer and Eucharistic Minister.He preferred to have his good works go unnoticed. Up until his health failed, he did grocery shopping for some of his elderly clients left without family. He never strove for riches. In his humble desire to do nothing more than educate his children and help others, he credited God with rewarding him beyond his wildest dreams. He always gave of his first fruits and testified that no one can out give God. He suffered with heart disease, prostate cancer and Parkinson disease, but he never suffered with “Important-itis” or “Big Shot-itis”. A humble man, he was uncomfortable with attention and shunned the spotlight. Yet, he was exalted and walked where few have gone. To God be the Glory.

Tributes

William Carrington March

February 4, 1923 - August 2, 2002