Northwestern High Student Laid To Rest

A funeral will be held for Dontae John Cook, a student at Hyattsville's Northwestern High School, who was killed in Mount Rainier earlier this month.

Dontae John Cook, 16 of Mount Rainier and a junior at Hyattsville’s Northwestern High School, is remembered as outgoing, adventurous and always bringing smiles. Cook, born Aug. 25, 1995 to Dania and John Cook, will be laid to rest this morning at National Harmony Hills Cemetery. He earned honor roll this past quarter and his family said he had aspirations of attending Howard University after he graduated from high school, but those were cut short after his life was taken on the evening of Dec. 16 near his home. Cook, also known as "Tae" by many of his schoolmates and friends, loved sports. He dominated the turf as the offensive, defensive linesman and running back for the Hyattsville/Mount Rainier /Brentwood Boys and Girls Club football …

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Beloved Hyattsville Elementary Reading Specialist Dies

Stephanie Chapman came to Hyattsville Elementary School in 2006, after spending time in other local schools and teaching in Guatemala.

Stephanie Chapman, reading specialist at Hyattsville Elementary School, passed away Dec. 11 after a battle with cancer. A post on the HES PTA’s Facebook page indicates that Chapman “provided professional development to the staff on reading strategies and initiatives such as Comprehension Toolkit and the Writing Fundamentals program.” She also managed the school’s Book-it program with Pizza Hut, a reading program with the Bowie Bay Sox, Monster Word Mondays and the DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) program, the post states. Chapman came to HES in August of 2006. She Chapman grew up in Massachusetts and Vermont and learned to speak Spanish in 2001 while teaching second-grade in a dual language program at the American School of Guatemala in …

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Ex-CIA Worker, Hyattsville Resident Dies At 99

Susan Finn is remembered for her love of the great American pastime.

Hyattsville native Susan Finn died Aug. 18 at the age of 99. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1911, Finn lived almost a century with a loving attitude, impeccable sense of humor and a penchant for baseball. Finn moved to Hyattsville in the 1960s and lived at 3900 Oglethorpe St. until the late 1990s. She retired from the CIA as a key punch operator in the 1970s. She was an avid bowler, continuing the sport well into her 80s and attended the International Horse Show every year. Finn’s great nephew Jon Wolz remembers her fondly as a loving aunt who always greeted people with a warm, “How are you doing, darling?” At the age of 17 she eloped with her husband Charles Finn in the Cascades Mountains in New York. As a child, Finn’s parents owned a …

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Beloved Educator Passes Away After Sickness

Hyattsville's Sr. Joyce Volpini, who was the principal at the former St. Jerome's Catholic School, died July 31.

Longtime Hyattsville resident Sr. Joyce Volpini passed away July 31 after a battle with cancer. Volpini was principal at St. Jerome’s Catholic School—now St. Jerome Academy— for over 35 years before being asked to leave by St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in 2009. According to a Facebook post by her brother Andy, Volpini was living in Glen Arm, MD at the time of her death. The school was going through a formal consultation by the Archdiocese of Washington. During this time, largely because of the national economic downturn, Catholic schools were closing their doors and St. Jerome's needed to make some changes to ensure the school would not be shut down. Fr. James Stack, of St. Jerome's Church, also later asked Volpini and her fellow Notre Dame…

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Young Rapper, Friend Laid to Rest

Leonard Raynod Smith-Matthews, 21, of Edmonston was fatally stabbed on June 30 at Hyattsville's University Town Center. His funeral was Friday morning.

Not much has been said publicly about the quiet, young rapper from Edmonston, but if his funeral Friday morning was any indication, Leonard Raynod Smith-Matthews was a catalyst among those who knew and loved him. A few hundred people came out to First Baptist Church of North Brentwood to remember the 21-year-old whose life was snuffed out in a stabbing on June 30 at Hyattsville’s University Town Center. “The one thing that I found was that he was a young man like any young man who was really just trying to find himself,” said the Rev. Quintin D. Borders of North Brentwood AME Zion Church, where Smith-Matthews attended church. “He never stopped trying and finding a way to touch somebody. He would want each of us here today to sing a new …

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Stagehand, Witty Friend Laid To Rest In Hyattsville

Brian Xavier Benson, 58, of 42nd Place, was remembered by his friends and family Wednesday after a traffic accident took the dry-witted stagehand away from them one week ago today.

About 200 mourners gathered at St. Jerome’s Church in Hyattsville Wednesday morning to celebrate the life of an avid motorcyclist, a loving husband and a doting dad. Brian Xavier Benson, 58, of 42nd Place was laid to rest by his friends and family after a traffic accident took the dry-witted stagehand away from them one week ago today. “Now he’s working behind the scenes … lucky for us he has a lot of experience with that,” said Nicole Daniels, Benson’s niece. Benson, a stagehand at Wolf Trap, was on his way home when he was killed shortly after 11 p.m. He was traveling on his motorcycle headed east on Georgetown Pike when he was hit by a car going in the opposite direction, Fairfax County police said. Benson is survived by his wife …

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Week In Review: Budget Hearing, Hyattsville Filmmaker and Trekking Local Trails

A roundup of the highlights from Patch's reporting this past week.

What a spectacular end to the week in Hyattsville! The sunny weather has driven us all outside for the summer weather endorphin high, and then back inside for the endorphin-spiking cool down. It’s just a great time of year to be alive. Here’s a roundup of some of the biggest news from Patch over this past week: Monday: Former Hyattsville City Councilwoman Polly F. Rogers passed away on May 19 in Jacksonville, FL. After marrying Ray Rogers in 1951, Polly lived and raised the couple's children in Hyattsville, according to The Washington Post. Rogers worked as a real estate agent for more than 36 years. She served on the Hyattsville City Council for 15 years. Helen Marion of Washington, D.C. comes out to Hyattsville to walk her dog along the …