Jerrold R. Humphrey, architect

Jerrold R. Humphrey, an architect and former president of Nes Campbell and Partners, died Feb. 2 from heart failure at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The longtime Rodgers Forge resident was 92.

Jerrold Roberts Humphrey, son of Frank Humphrey, a veterinarian, and his wife, Anne Walker Humphrey, was born in Baltimore and raised in Sudbrook Park.

He was a student at St. Paul’s School in 1944 when he left to join the Army. He later returned to St. Paul’s, graduated and enrolled at the University of Virginia, where he studied architecture on the GI Bill and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1953.

While he was at Virginia, he met and fell in love with the former Hazel Harris, a medical technologist, whom he married in 1953.

He spent his entire architectural career with Fisher, Nes, Campbell & Associates, which later became Nes Campbell and Partners, eventually rising to become president of the firm.

Some of the buildings the firm designed included the McKeldin Library at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Harford Community College library, the emergency room at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, Randallstown Senior High School and Hickory Elementary School.

“Jerry was a nice fellow and a very gentle and kind soul,” said Walter Schamu, president and founder of SM+P Architects. “He was not a flashy designer but rather a nuts-and-bolts guy. He held the flag for the firm, which had a fine architectural history until it dissolved in the 1980s.”

Mr. Humphrey continued working as a freelance architect into his 90s, from a basement office in his Stanmore Road home in Rodgers Forge, where he had lived for 57 years.

He enjoyed playing tennis and golfing at Pine Ridge. He was also an inveterate Orioles and Ravens fan and followed University of Virginia sports.

Mr. Humphrey was a communicant of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, where a memorial service was held Feb. 15.

Mrs. Humphrey died in 2001.

He is survived by a son, Jerrold Roberts “Rob” Humphrey of Delta, Pennsylvania; a daughter, Susan Moore Humphrey of Rodgers Forge; and three grandsons.