Two Sisters, One Baltimore Century
They were the daughters of Joseph Zimmerman, a Baltimore civil engineer, and Marie Naevy Zimmerman, a homemaker. Eleanor came first, in 1928 or thereabouts; Joan a few years after. Between them they would see the century change twice, raise eight children, nurse a hospital's worth of strangers, coach a gymful of girls, feed half of Catonsville from a catering kitchen, and lose, and love, and outlast almost everyone.
Eleanor married into the Troy clan of Hampden — a Catholic family of fourteen siblings — and gave Baltimore twenty years on the Keough basketball court. Joan, with husband Jim Foit, raised three children in Catonsville and gave Mercy Medical Center thirty‑nine of her own.
The full story is in The Sisters. Photos, audio, and ephemera live in the Gallery. Open questions are at the Editor's Desk.