This event will take place at St. Paul in partnership with our friends, the Eliot Society. You can sign up here.

Katrina’s talk will not demystify the art form; rather, she will show poetry’s role through abstraction, impression, expression, and even performance as a means of glorifying paradox. That same paradox at the heart of the Gospel is what breaths within the lines of great poetic works.

Katrina Atsinger is an Adjunct Professor of English at the United States Naval Academy; amateur poet; compulsive essay writer; life-long dancer; Christian school volunteer on the East and West coasts; dual citizen of the U.K. and U.S.; and, with her husband, co-creator of poetic events.

When Katrina was 13, she performed Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and won a regional poetry recitation contest. In the experience of performance, she discovered that “still point of the turning world” where the “dance is” though she had no means of such expression or understanding at the time, because she was yet to encounter Eliot! Reading for a degree in English Literature and Language at Oxford University intensified her exposure to the variations in form, fashion, and genius from Anglo-Saxon to the present but it was only when she started teaching British poetry to 10th Graders in California that her personal connection with the art form flourished.

For a season that included four years in The Netherlands, motherhood became her poetic experience, but she craved a return to more formal study. A move to Annapolis eventually led to such an opportunity and a proper venture into the Great Books that sit behind the greatest works of English Literature as she pursued her master’s degree at St. John’s College, where she could really attempt to understand Eliot and where her award-winning essay on Joyce is published in the St. John’s library.

Five years ago, she re-entered the classroom in a teaching capacity and now, every Spring, she takes her Plebe-year Midshipmen on a rapid journey through the poetic landscape of the English language. Their first formal essay of the semester is “A Defense of Poetry” – a worthy exercise for men and women who need to make an intentional effort to encounter and grow that part of themselves unserved by STEM and the mental, physical, and technical demands of their routine and highly challenging existence.

Whether entertaining preschoolers every week at the Annapolis Bookstore (now Old Fox Books), recording “salon” videos for Elan Ensemble during the Covid shutdown or matching and reciting poetry to a program of baroque classical music and historic seasonal favorites in the ballroom at the Hammond Harwood House, Katrina continues to enjoy recitation and composition of poetry in its many forms. Most recently, she is preparing to narrate the libretto for a new one act ballet, performed by the Ballet Theater of Maryland.

Strength. Integrity. Resilience. Courage. 

These qualities only begin to define the character embodied by Robert McCulloch Trantin, Jr., devoted husband, father, brother, and son who passed away in his Odenton home on Sunday, April 7th surrounded by family and love.

Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1952 to parents Robert McCulloch Trantin, Sr. and Nancy Danforth Trantin, Bob’s family moved to Florida in 1972. He accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1976 after graduating from Florida State University with a degree in Business.

Bob fell for Lisa Schottenheimer in 1977 while visiting his alma mater. After initially dismissing a friend’s suggestion that they’d make a good match, it didn’t take long for Bob to change his tune. Bob and Lisa’s chemistry was undeniable and their romance epitomized the adage, “when you know, you know.” They married mere months later on June 17th, 1978 and embarked on a beautiful adventure together. Bob and Lisa moved to Germany in 1980 on assignment where they welcomed their first of seven children. They returned to the U.S. in 1983 and lived in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas before their final station at Ft. Meade, Maryland in 1991. Bob and Lisa chose to continue raising their family in Maryland following Bob’s retirement from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1998.

Those who knew Bob quickly recognized his eager embrace of life and its various experiences.  Even following his 2017 cancer diagnosis, his enthusiasm and optimism remained undiminished. He was a dreamer – often discussing and visualizing future adventures, goals, and projects that brought him joy and inspiration. He was a source of knowledge – an avid reader, experienced military officer, and life-long learner. He was a coach – sometimes formally and always unofficially for his children’s athletic pursuits. He was an admirer of nature – deeply appreciative of the sights, sounds, and sensations afforded by a quiet moment outdoors. He was a force to be reckoned with – everyone who had the privilege, witnessed his passion, determination, intellect, loyalty, and wisdom. Above all, though, he was a devoted husband and father – his favorite days seemingly simple ones filled with family gatherings and conversations. He was truly a Mountain of a Man.

Bob will remain a cherished fixture in our hearts and memories. In addition to his beloved wife of nearly 46 years, Lisa, he leaves his children, Robert Trantin III and his wife Marisa, John Trantin and his wife Jennifer, David Trantin and his wife Amanda, Kathryn Barnaba and her husband Christopher, Jacob Trantin and his wife Ruslana, Alexander Trantin, and Willis Trantin; his grandchildren, Bella Trantin, Robert Trantin IV, Camden Trantin, Jackson Trantin, and Scarlett Trantin; his sisters, Lee Trantin, Deborah Trantin, Nancy Smith, and Wendy McCombs; and many loving nephews, nieces, and friends. We trust that Bob is now in the embrace of his late parents Robert Trantin, Sr., and Nancy Trantin.

Visitation will be held Saturday, April 13, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. at Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory, P.A. 1411 Annapolis Rd, Odenton, MD 21113. All family and friends are welcome. 

A Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 1505 Crownsville Road, Crownsville, MD 21032 at 12:00 pm. Interment will be private at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a charity of your choice or one of Bob’s favorites:

https://www.heifer.org/our-work/index.html

https://helpingupmission.org/

https://www.donaldsonodenton.com/obituary/Robert-TrantinJr