Former Annapolis Mayor Dean L. Johnson Dies

Johnson served as mayor from 1997 to 2001. A memorial service is scheduled for Monday.

Former Annapolis Mayor Dean L. Johnson Dies

A memorial service will be held Monday at the First Presbyterian Church on Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis.

Former Annapolis Mayor Dean L. Johnson died Wednesday at Anne Arundel Medical Center after a long battle with cancer, according to a press release from the city of Annapolis. Johnson, 68, is survived by his wife, Sally Johnson, his sons, Kevin, Eric and Stuart Johnson, his mother, Marianne Muse, as well as his two brothers and four grandchildren, according to his obituary. Mr. Johnson was elected mayor in 1997, city officials said in the release. He served as mayor until 2001. Prior to that he served as the alderman of Ward 2 for two terms. “Dean was a natural optimist who was always quick to share a smile or a friendly word," Annapolis Mayor Josh Cohen said in the release. "A genuinely considerate and humble man, Dean loved our community …

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At Funeral, Schaefer Remembered for His Dedication to Baltimore

The service began at 11 a.m. at Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church on North Charles Street.

Both inside and outside Old Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church on Wednesday, William Donald Schaefer was remembered by powerful politicians and average people alike as a leader whose passion, quirks and determination helped restore pride in his native Baltimore. Hundreds of people crowded into the downtown church on North Charles Street to celebrate the life of a man who became the fiercely protective father of modern day Baltimore. People of all races, religions and politics gathered to honor “a giant of a man,” as his longtime aide Lainy LeBow-Sachs called him in her eulogy. But no matter how outsized his political persona became, Schaefer’s greatest strength, according to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, was that “he was one of us and we knew it…

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Nancy Royden

8:34 am on Thursday, April 28, 2011

These photos are beautiful and meaningful.   more ›

Farewell to Schaefer Begins in Annapolis

People flock to the Maryland State House to say goodbye to the former mayor and governor.

When former governor, and iconic Maryland political figure, William Donald Schaefer arrived at the State House for the final time Monday morning, the crowd gathered wasn't overwhelming. But by the time the doors opened just after 10 a.m., a line of more than 100 people wrapped around the side of the State House. Waiting under a sea of sunlight, the crowd was diverse, ranging from elderly priests to young State House aides. While ages and occupations varied, most people seemed set on paying their respects for one simple reason: because of what Schaefer had done for the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. “He was a great man, a great mayor, governor and comptroller, and did a lot for the state,” said Henry Green of Annapolis. “I …

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William Donald Schaefer Leaves 'Do It Now' Legacy on Maryland Politics

The former governor, Baltimore mayor and state comptroller who died on Monday will lie in state at the State House in Annapolis and in the rotunda of Baltimore City Hall.

UPDATE (10:10 a.m.)—William Donald Schaefer—Baltimore's legendary former mayor, Maryland governor and state comptroller—died Monday at around 6:30 p.m. in his bed at the Charlestown retirement community in Catonsville, according to his longtime friend Lainy M. LeBow-Sachs. "I was with him holding his hand," LeBow-Sachs told Patch. "He couldn't speak." Schaefer, 89, was released from the hospital earlier this month after a five-day stay for pneumonia and returned to Charlestown, where Maryland's 58th governor has lived for three years. LeBow-Sachs said she did not know the official cause but said it was likely multiple "organ shutdown." "There will never be another William Donald Schaefer," LeBow-Sachs said. "I think everyone will be so …

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