Montgomery Joseph Phair Obituary
Montgomery Joseph Phair
October 15, 1957 - February 16, 2023
Montgomery Joseph Phair, age 65, was called home by our Lord on February 16, 2023. He was the beloved husband of Daria (née Basarab); dear father of Christopher (Veronica) and Elise (wife of Zorik Manukyan); treasured grandfather of Benedict, Virgil, Basil, Nicholas, Misha, Levon, and Helen; and devoted son of Montgomery Frederick (deceased) and Marie (née Marx). He is survived by his sisters, Sharon Fortenbaugh and Marylee Reeger, and his brother, Michael.
Friends may visit at Hubbard Funeral Home, 4107 Wilkens Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21229 on Sunday, February 19, 2023 from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at St. Benedict Church, 2600 Wilkens Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21223. Interment immediately after at Woodlawn Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Agnes Knights of Columbus #4449, 2021 Frederick Rd., Catonsville, MD 21228, https://kofc4449.org.
Monty, as he was known by his family and friends, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His heritage was Irish-German. In the 1980’s, he was State Historian for the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He held a job, sometimes two at a time, most of his life, beginning as a Baltimore Sunpapers newspaper boy at age fourteen. He also scooped ice cream at Carvel’s; had his own lawn care business; and, in the 1990’s, worked for antiquarian medical books dealer, Dr. Jean-Maurice Poitras. But, for forty-four years of his life, Monty was a librarian at Baltimore County Public Library, serving in at least six different branches - Essex, Towson, Cockeysville, Pikesville, Randallstown, and Catonsville. He met his wife of forty years, Daria, at the Essex branch. His co-workers and patrons of all ages admired him for his eagerness to help, his humor, his great smile and contagious laugh, his prodigious memory, and for his amazing breadth of knowledge. Monty knew the Dewey Decimal System and each branch’s collection. Many patrons sought him out when they visited the library.
When Monty worked at the Pikesville and Randallstown branches, he was able to use the Russian language he learned at Dumbarton Junior High and Parkville High Schools to help the Russian-speaking patrons. [Neufeld, Sara. “Library’s a lifeline to Russian culture… A Pikesville librarian uses books and his knowledge of the language to help immigrants.” Baltimore Sun (27 January 2004), https://www.baltimoresun.com....]
To read about Monty’s other achievements as a librarian, check out these other Sunpapers articles. If the links don’t work, contact your local librarian for help.
* Boteler, Cody. “Catonsville library prepping for historic walking tour.” (13 September 2018), https://www.baltimoresun.com....
* “An evening of Irish storytelling.” (13 March 2015), https://www.baltimoresun.com....
* Loricchio, Lauren. “History lover presents perspective of past.” (24 September 2014), https://www.baltimoresun.com....
But, Monty was more than a librarian, he was a true Renaissance man with wide interests, gleaned by constantly reading on a broad variety of subjects. His favorite books were the Bible, his Breviary, and Lord of the Rings (he read the complete series at least thirteen times, most recently this year). He was a lover of history (particularly the War of 1812, the American Civil War, and WWII), who volunteered for the National Park Service as a member of the Fort McHenry Guard from 1997 to 2014. He shared his knowledge of the history of downtown Baltimore City when he worked as an “Urban Ranger” for Baltimore National Heritage Tour. You can see the passion he exuded on a Virtual Highlight Tour he gave in July 2020, https://www.youtube.com. While at the Catonsville library, he gave walking tours of local historic houses. He also worked briefly at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum.
Monty was also an artist, who won ribbons for his watercolors and scratchboard at the Maryland State Fair. He was a self-taught crafter, who did leatherwork and built model aircraft, influenced by his father who constructed planes out of balsa wood. He was a wordsmith, who wrote beautiful or funny poetry. His German grandfather, also named Montgomery, instilled a love of listening to music in him. Monty could play the drums and blow a tune on a harmonica.
Monty had a beautiful baritone voice and sang with the Tridentine Latin Mass schola and choir, the latter directed by Msgr. Arthur Bastress at the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Baltimore. For the past few years, he was a member of the St. Benedict Church choir under the direction of Sammy Huh. In the 1980’s, he even appeared in the musical, "Anything Goes” at Essex Community College.
More than anything, Monty was a spectacular husband, father, and grandfather. He was greatly involved in our (grand) children’s lives, always sharing his knowledge of what interested them, telling and reading them stories, and enriching their lives with a wide variety of memorable experiences - camping, Cub Scout meetings, drawing, hiking, Irish Céilí dances, museums, nature walks, and travel in the United States and abroad. For a time, he homeschooled our children and even one of his grandsons. He was always eager to engage and talk to others with genuine care for their well-being, whether it was family, friends, or even a homeless man on our front porch in Baltimore. All of this was done with great joy, patience, and love.
But, most of all, Monty was a man of deep, transcendent faith, who passed that quality to his children. He loved our Lord with all his heart and soul and admired Saints Joseph and Benedict. During his last years he was proud to be actively involved with the charitable work of the wonderful St. Agnes Knights of Columbus #4449.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
Written by,
Daria Phair
Till we meet again, My Love
