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Mary Lawrence Forkel, 90, the wife of the Rev. Frederick W. Forkel, a retired Elder, died Oct. 23 in Catonsville. A Service of Witness to the Resurrection was held Oct. 27 at the Catonsville Presbyterian Church.

Forkel sang in the choir at Catonsville High School, from which she graduated in 1939. It was conducted by Thomas Lawrence, who became her husband in 1946. He died in 1996.

She and the retired Rev. Fred Forkel were married in 2004 and lived in the Charlestown Retirement Community.

She graduated with honors from the nursing school at the Hospital for the Women of Maryland and completed post graduate work in nursing at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University. She worked at Women's Hospital as a nursing supervisor and clinical instructor until the birth of her first child in 1947. After that she was a volunteer nurse and head of the Civil Defense Medical Unit in Catonsville.

Mary Forkel was a devoted member of Catonsville Presbyterian Church. She sang in the choir for 60 years and also served on three pastoral search committees and the Synod. She was superintendent of the Sunday school, chairman of the Heritage Committee, and founder and president of the Catonsville Presbyterian Church Concert Series, for which she organized the restoration of a grand piano dedicated to the memory of Thomas Lawrence and Doris Ehlers.

An avid supporter of live music in the community, Forkel was co-founder of the Catonsville Concert Association, a member of the Baltimore Symphony Board of Directors and the Baltimore Symphony Associates, and a co-founder of the Baltimore Symphony series in Catonsville. When her children were in high school she was president of the Catonsville High School PTA.

Survivors include her husband, a daughter, Sue Sidodti of Sioux Falls, S.D., son Charles Lawrence of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and two granddaughters.

Condolences may be sent to Rev. Fred Forkel, 717 Maiden Choice Lane, Apt. 211, Baltimore, MD 21228-6114.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Catonsville Presbyterian Church Concert Series or its Organ Fund, at 1400 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228.