Constance F. ‘Sugar’ Potthast, accountant

Constance F. Potthast, a retired accountant and bookkeeper who had worked in her husband’s law firm, died Wednesday from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at her home in Riderwood’s Village Green neighborhood. She was 87. The former Constance Fava was the daughter of Anthony J. Fava, owner of the G. Fava Fruit Co., and Sara Cicero Fava, an immigrant from Cefalu, Sicily, and a homemaker.

Raised on Bristol Road in Stoneleigh, Mrs. Potthast was a 1950 graduate of the old Mount St. Agnes High School in Mount Washington, and earned a bachelor’s degree in theater in 1954 from Catholic University of America.

She was married in 1958 to Theodore J. Potthast Jr., a Towson lawyer, for whom she was the firm’s accountant and bookkeeper. She also handled the investment activities of her father’s company.

She retired in 2017.

Mrs. Potthast, who was known as “Sugar,” was an accomplished cook who enjoyed preparing Italian and Sicilian specialties for family and friends.

When her two sons were students at Loyola Blakefield High School, she was an active member of the Loyola Blakefield Mothers’ Club and was an avid supporter of its football team.

She also actively volunteered with the German Society of Maryland, where her husband was a lifetime director and a former president of the organization.

Mrs. Potthast was a communicant of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, Baltimore and Ware avenues, Towson, where a Mass of Christian burial was offered Thursday.

In addition to her husband of 61 years, Mrs. Potthast is survived by her two sons, John A. “Jack” Potthast of Gambrils and Mark I. Potthast of Timonium; two daughters, Marialena “Mia” Walsh of Baltimore and Catherine Potthast of Ellicott City; and seven grandchildren.