Edward H. “Hugh” Carey, a retired Baltimore County educator, coach and outdoorsman, died Oct. 16 from cancer at his West Towson home. He was 80.
“I was a rookie when I came to Loch Raven High School. I worked with Hugh for 18 years. He was a very conscientious teacher,” said Pat Neary, who taught chemistry and physics.
“Hugh was born to teach,” said Michael Panopoulos, who had been a student of Mr. Carey’s and later a friend. “He knew so much stuff and was humble as the day is long.”
Edward Hughes Carey, son of Thomas Edward Carey, owner of an Esso gas station, and Margaret Steward Carey, a receptionist, was born in Baltimore and raised on Hopkins Road in Rodgers Forge.
He was a 1956 graduate of the old Lida Lee Tall Elementary School that was on the campus of Towson University, and he was in the second graduating class at Dumbarton Middle School.
“Hugh always said he was the ‘King of the 9th grade Prom at Dumbarton,’” said his wife of 57 years, Pamela Higginbottom, who retired from Johns Hopkins University, where she had been a student adviser.
Mr. Carey was a 1962 graduate of Towson High School, where he lettered in lacrosse and soccer.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1966 in mathematics from Towson University, where he continued playing lacrosse and soccer and was named Senior Athlete of the Year. He later obtained a master’s degree in math from Bowdoin College in Maine.
Mr. Carey began his teaching career at Towson High School, where he taught math and coached junior varsity lacrosse for six years before joining the faculty at Loch Raven High School, where he taught for 24 years and coached junior varsity lacrosse and golf.
An avid outdoorsman and deer hunter, his students enjoyed delaying class by asking questions about his weekend.
When Mr. Panopoulos graduated from Loch Raven, Mr. Carey, who sported a thick Lincoln-esque beard at the time, signed his yearbook, “Abe Carey.”
In 1989, student and teacher were reunited at a mutual friend’s home.
“He asked me, ‘Can I make Manhattans for the two of us?’ and in my best Richie Cunningham [a character from “Happy Days”] voice, I said, ‘Yes, Mr. Carey.’ He laughed and denied acceptance of the ‘Mr. Carey’ salutation,” Mr. Panopoulos said.
Mr. Carey’s lifelong love for the Chesapeake Bay began as a child when he spent time with his family on the Eastern Shore. He enjoyed boating, fishing in the Miles River, trotline crabbing in Leeds Creek and oystering at his in-laws’ home on the Eastern Shore.
He retired in 1997.
Mr. Carey loved refinishing antique furniture, enjoyed collecting painted furniture and built a substantial addition that doubled the size of his home. He was an avid vegetable gardener and loved puttering in his garden.
He enjoyed watching his children and grandchildren play soccer and lacrosse at Towson High School.
“If anything stands out about Hugh Carey, it’s the emphasis he placed on his family,” Mr. Neary said.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 14 at Hunt’s United Methodist Church, 1912 Old Court Road, Riderwood.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Carey is survived by a son, Bradley Hughes Carey, of Severna Park; two daughters, Kristin Carey Schulze, of Towson, and Lindsey Carey Bean, of Hanoi, Vietnam; and seven grandchildren.