Philomena Rose Scalia, recalled as one of Little Italy’s most prolific home bakers, appeared healthy and resilient when she was photographed last year for a Baltimore Sun article describing how her community was coping with the coronavirus pandemic.

Though she was healthy until earlier this year, she died of COVID-19 complications Tuesday at Mercy Medical Center. She was 92. A longtime worker in the State’s Attorney’s Office for Baltimore City, she was a locally renowned baker and once made cassata and rum cakes for President Jimmy Carter while he visited Baltimore.