Deaths from cancer in Maryland

Rogers Clark Ballard Morton (September 19, 1914 – April 19, 1979) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce during the administrations of presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, respectively. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland.
Morton was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and moved to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to the House of Representatives, in which capacity he established a pro-environment record. Morton would joke that his two middle initials stood for "Chesapeake Bay". In 1968, Morton played a major role in Richard Nixon's campaign for president, and was chosen by Nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
In the elections of 1970, Morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge Joseph Tydings for his U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, but he chose instead to remain as chairman of the RNC. In 1971, President Nixon tapped Morton to serve as Secretary of the Interior, during which time he oversaw the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the 1973 oil crisis. Morton was the only person from the East Coast to serve as head of the Interior Department in the 20th century.Following Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate Scandal, Morton continued in his post in the Gerald Ford administration until 1975, when he was nominated to serve as Secretary of Commerce. From April to August 1976, Morton served as Ford's campaign manager in his bid for election. Morton retired from politics following Ford's election defeat. Three years later, he died of cancer at his home in Easton on the eastern shore of Maryland.

Nicholas Monroe Smith Jr. (1914 – 2003) was a nuclear physicist and research consultant. Smith was an expert on reactor physics, a developer of operations research/computer modeling, and a computer applications consultant. He had ties to the Manhattan Project at Chicago and Oak Ridge, and worked with Samuel Allison and James Van Allen. Smith was a pioneer in the field of operations research.

Mary Elizabeth Tidball (née Peters; October 15, 1929 – February 3, 2014) was an American physiologist. She was an advocate for women in academia and STEM and a supporter of women's colleges. Tidball was a longtime faculty member at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences (GW) where she became the institution's first woman appointed professor of physiology. Her research in the 1960s on the career outcomes of graduates from women's colleges versus those from coeducational institutions sparked discussions that continued for decades. Tidball was the first female president of the Cathedral Choral Society where she sang for almost fifty years.

Robert William Kearns (March 10, 1927 – February 9, 2005) was an American mechanical engineer, educator and inventor who invented the most common intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most automobiles from 1969 to the present. His first patent for the invention was filed on December 1, 1964, after a few previous designs by other inventors had failed to gain any traction in manufacturing.
Kearns won one of the best known patent infringement cases against Ford Motor Company (1978–1990) and a case against Chrysler Corporation (1982–1992). Having invented and patented the intermittent windshield wiper mechanism, which was useful in light rain or mist, he tried to interest the "Big Three" auto makers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) in licensing the technology. Each rejected his proposal, yet began to install electronic intermittent wipers based on Kearns's design in their cars, beginning in 1969, when Ford rolled out the feature to its Mercury line.
Kearns's legal battle against Ford to protect his invention and patent was the subject of a 1993 article in The New Yorker magazine, which became the basis for a full-length biographical feature film titled Flash of Genius in 2008. Kearns was played by actor Greg Kinnear. Kearns had six children with his wife Phyllis, although they separated, supposedly as a result of the stress from the legal battle. He died of brain cancer at the age of 77.

Philip Francis Berrigan (October 5, 1923 – December 6, 2002) was an American peace activist and Catholic priest with the Josephites. He engaged in nonviolent, civil disobedience in the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament and was often arrested.In 1973, he married a former nun, Elizabeth McAlister both were subsequently excommunicated by the Catholic Church before being reinstated. For eleven years of their 29-year marriage they were separated by one or both serving time in prison.