Mathematician Co-Authored Guide to Winning at Blackjack

He taught high school mathematics during the 1951-52 school year in Columbia before serving two years in the Army Ordnance Corps.

At Aberdeen from 1954 to 1962, he used applied mathematics, statistics and computer technology in research and development work on combat tanks, tank guns, other weaponry and transport vehicles.

He met his wife, Lottie Burris Cantey, at a cabaret on U Street in the District. They married in 1956.

As the Vietnam War intensified in the early 1960s, civilian families living at Aberdeen were asked to leave the base. With few desirable places for African American families to live, Cantey became the leader of an effort to develop Chesapeake Acres, a subdivision of split-level houses in Harford.

During that time, he also started a community chorus and a social organization that was involved in integrating eating and recreational facilities, schools and housing near the base.

Before he could settle into his new home, though, Cantey moved to another job designing war games at the Army Strategy and Tactics Analysis Group in Bethesda. He later worked at the State Department's Arms Control Agency as a statistician, and he retired from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration as deputy director in operations research analysis.

A family man -- he also had a son, Wilbert E. Cantey Jr.; a brother; a sister; and three granddaughters -- Cantey spent several years keeping statistics on health conditions in his wife's family. He found patterns of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension and shared his findings at family reunions.

His fondness for numbers aside, Cantey also was known by family and friends for the grits and salmon he loved to make for breakfast, his enjoyment of jazz and religious music, and his involvement with Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

He also was known for his card playing. He occasionally played blackjack, but he was a hard-to-beat poker and bridge player. "He had an amazing card sense . . . intuitive," Maisel said.