Obituaries
Laurel Leader’s Legend, Gertrude Poe, Passes Away At Age 101
Gertrude Poe of Laurel, the first lady of Maryland journalism, died July 13 at age 101, city officials said.
LAUREL, MD — Gertrude Poe, former editor of the Laurel Leader and the First Lady of Maryland journalism, died Thursday, July 13, at age 101, officials said. In the city statement on her death, Mayor Craig A. Moe called Poe a Renaissance woman and a stalwart supporter of the City of Laurel.
According to a news release, she graduated from the old Laurel High School in 1931. After graduation, Poe went to work as a secretary for local attorney, George McCeney, and after working in his law offices for five years, Poe went to Washington College of Law, where she graduated with a juris doctorate degree in 1939.
Poe returned to McCeney’s law firm, expecting to work as a lawyer, but G. Bowie McCeney had a different idea. He handed her a copy of the Laurel Leader and told her his career had ended as editor and hers was just beginning.
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Though Poe fought this decision, she came to it naturally, became a co-publisher and business partner of McCeney and for the first 20 years, she filled in numerous roles to make certain the Laurel Leader got out on time every week. She retired from the paper in 1980, but not before receiving numerous prestigious awards and recognitions such as the first woman president of the Maryland Press Association in 1958 to receiving the Patriotic Civilian Service Award in 1963 and after her retirement, she was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1987, just to name a few of her prestigious honors.
Known as “Maryland’s First Lady of Journalism,” Ms. Poe started her adventure-filled life in Granite, Maryland in Baltimore County. From there, her family moved to Laurel, where she spent most of her life and after her retirement, she moved to Ashton, where she died.
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Mayor Moe said in a statement, "it is a very sad day for the City of Laurel to lose a Laurel citizen with such talent, insight, and love for the City. Gertrude Poe will be missed by many for a long time to come. She was truly an inspiration to all she met and was a very caring citizen of this great City."
Image courtesy of the Laurel Leader and photographer Jen Rynda
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