Barbara L. Lems, a popular Dulaney High School science teacher, died of multiple organ failure Aug. 21 at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium.
The longtime Cockeysville resident was 92.
“She was a wonderful teacher, so calm and even-keeled,” said Glen Davis, a former biology and chemistry student who is now an electrical engineer.
“She loved the material and was almost a geek about it. She always was very excited about the lessons and she passed that joy and enthusiasm on for the material,” he said.
Barbara Lois Miles, daughter of Walter Miles, an upholsterer and bartender, and Sally Miles, who sold women’s apparel, was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1950.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1954 from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.
She also obtained a master’s degree in science in 1971 from Morgan State University and a second master’s degree in education from Towson State University in 1977.
Widowed at 35, after her husband of 14 years, Cornelius Lems, a science professor at Goucher College, was killed in a 1968 automobile accident — leaving her to raise their six daughters.
She began teaching that year at Maryvale Preparatory School in Brooklandville, and the next year joined the faculty of Cockeysville Junior High School.
In 1977, she began teaching science, biology and chemistry at Dulaney.
Ms. Lems also taught technical crew — lighting and sound for the school’s theater productions and band concerts — with many of her students going on to successful professional careers in TV production, movies and film.
She also led the school’s chess team to several championships.
“She let us do our own experiments,” Mr. Davis recalled.
One day, Mr. Davis and several fellow students were to measure the pressure of a glass beaker, and when they got it too low, it imploded.
“She thought that it was fun that we blew something up,” he said with a laugh.
He said Ms. Lems knew how to control a class.
“She told me, ‘I expect the kids to do what I tell them,’ and it went 100 percent her way,” he said.
She retired from Dulaney in 1997.
Mr. Davis went to visit Ms. Lems several weeks before her death.
“She asked me if I knew the difference between fruits and vegetables. She said fruit has seeds and vegetables do not, therefore ‘a tomato is a fruit,'” he said. “A teacher to the end.”
Ms. Lems was a movie fan and a member of Cinema Sundays at the Charles Theater. She was also a fan of classic rock and tennis, especially enjoying matches featuring Rafael Nadal. She was also a die-hard Orioles and Ravens fan.
Ms. Lems was a member of Maryland Mensa and the Chesapeake Audubon Society.
A devout Roman Catholic who embraced Christian values of forgiveness, she donated much of her income to numerous different charities, family members said.
She was a communicant of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 101 Church Lane, Cockeysville, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Sept.12.
Ms. Lems is survived by six daughters, Roberta Levine of Jessup, Susan Jones of Lutherville, Mary Jenkins of Phoenix, Baltimore County, Andrea Davison of Baltimore, Patricia Brumbach of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and Casandra Lem of New York City; a brother, John Michael Miles of Grand Rapids; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
