Published on: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

By Mary McHale

Morningside VFD hosts memorial for Kenny

On Jan. 12, 1992, Morningside volunteer firefighter Kenneth Hedrick went into a burning house on Walls Lane and helped rescue 9-year-old Shawn Sanchez. Then, believing another child was still in the house, Kenny went back into the flames, got tangled in furniture, lost his breathing mask and his life. 

On the 20th anniversary of that tragedy, the Morningside Volunteer Fire Department held a service to honor Kenny’s memory. Morningside Fire Chief Mark White and his firefighters in class A uniforms, Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor, County Chaplain Warren Litchfield, the County Command Staff and color guard, and firefighters from other departments were there.

After dignitaries spoke, they all moved to the Hedrick Memorial on the firehouse grounds to lay a wreath while a bagpiper played.

Among them were Kenny’s parents, Les and Cathy. Cathy is active with the Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Les, who was Morningside Fire Chief when Kenny died, is still a Morningside firefighter.

Kenny was only 18, but he had almost grown up at the firehouse. He never wanted to be anything but a firefighter. He became a Level 1 hazardous waste tech when he was 16 and later, the youngest Level 2 in the county. He was getting ready to apply for a career position, had a girlfriend he hoped to marry, and he had made his first payment on a car. 

More than 2,000 attended his funeral at Mount Calvary Church. We will never forget Kenny.

Andrews Manor Shopping Center

Arby’s is the most recent closure in Andrews Manor Shopping Center on Allentown Road. The Wonder Bread store closed last month, joining other shuttered shops including the Jesus Book Store, Perfect Image beauty shop and, of course, the long-ago Woolworth’s, Drug Fair, Food Fair, Bambino’s Pizza and so many more. However, the H & R Block office and the new Plaza Latina restaurant are open for business.

The façade and roof of the Have A Heart Church Ministries — the roof of which caved in under heavy rain two years ago — have been restored and work continues on the interior. Maybe by Easter the big white tent currently used for services will be gone, allowing more Sunday parking.

Neighbors

Greg and Irja Bonafede, of Upper Marlboro, welcomed the first Prince George’s birth of 2012 when their daughter was born 12 seconds after midnight on Jan. 1. The Bonafedes also have two sons.

Janet Booth Kaye recently emailed that her brother, Howard Booth, celebrated his 70th birthday. “He was three years old,” she wrote, “when we moved from Washington to Morningside. What a wonderful place to live most of our lives.” The family celebrated his day, along with his granddaughter Stephanie’s 21st birthday. She is the daughter of Buddy and Kathy Booth Goodwyn, and granddaughter of Howard and Nancy Englund Booth. And she’s a senior at the University of Maryland.

Anna Mistretta dies at 97

Anna Elizabeth Talbert Mistretta, a devoted member of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, died New Year’s Eve at The Hermitage in Solomons, after visiting with her family during the Christmas holidays. She was 97.

She was born in Oxon Hill and spent her life there. On Aug. 28, 1937, she married Salvatore A. Mistretta at the Church of the Assumption in Congress Heights. He had a career in pharmacy, was pharmacist and manager for Dart Drugs and Peoples, president of Arcum Pharmaceuticals and Mistretta  & Co. Inc. They were married 64 years when he died in 2001 at the age of 91.

Anna served on the vestry at St. Barnabas Church, sang in the choir and was a member of the Ladies of St. Barnabas. She was a substitute teacher, president of the PTA, president of the Henson Valley Republican Women, and active with her husband in the Lion’s Club.          

Her children, Anna Marie Lenck, Charles H. Mistretta, Sr., and Charlotte Bradley; a brother, Elmer P. Talbert; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren survive her.

Granddaughter Cathy Canniff grew up in a house next door to the Mistrettas. She wrote, “Grandma was the heart of our family … I’ll always remember decorating her tree, watermelon feasts in the backyard, picking grapes, making potato salad and meatballs. … She left her mark on all of us.”

Milestones

Happy birthday to June Nicholson and Gina (Glagola) Hull, Jan. 20; Mark Foland, Jan. 23; Claire Kennedy, Jan. 24; Kenneth Brown and Michelle Willis, Jan. 25.

Happy 41st anniversary to Ernest and Margaret Vilky, married Jan. 23, 1971, at St. Thomas More Church.