Former Anne Arundel County Executive John Gary, a staunch Republican who served one term, died on July 12. He was 81, and no cause of death was given.
Born in Baltimore in 1943, Mr. Gary moved to Anne Arundel as a child. He later entered public service and represented the county in various capacities, including as executive from 1994 to 1998.
Before becoming county executive in Anne Arundel, Mr. Gary represented the county’s District 33 in the House of Delegates from 1983 to 1994. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruthanne Neighoff Gary. He has three children, Donna, Cynthia and Gregory and four grandchildren.
“He was an extremely loyal person,” Mr. Gary’s daughter, Donna Gary-Vereb, said. “When you were his friend, you were his friend for life. He appreciated people and was very charismatic and outgoing. You know politicians, he’d talk to anybody.”
In office, the former owner of a drapery business governed with a bluntness “befitting a big-city mayor,” the Washington Post reported in 1998. His political approach and candor were directed toward county schools, the working class, human services issues and environmental and historic preservation.
Mr. Gary established a “Wheels for Work” program that made old county cars available to welfare recipients. He also helped oversee the acquisition of the property now known as the Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center in Highland Beach.
Mr. Gary lost his bid for reelection in 1998 to Democrat Janet S. Owens, the first woman elected county executive.
Any success he had in office was a result of his stubborn legislative style, a trait seldom seen outside of the political arena, his daughter, a Millersville resident, said.
“My father was a stubborn man,” she said. “But what his friends and associates will tell you is that he worked across the aisle. He was a fierce defender of the taxpayer’s dollar.”
Mr. Gary was the second son of John G. Gary, Sr. and Elizabeth Irene Gary. His father was in the Navy and his mother was a homemaker. Mr. Gary and his brother, William, who died in 1983, spent their childhood on naval bases in Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Indiana and Maryland.
The family moved to Pasadena in the early 1950s, living only a few houses away from Mr. Gary’s future wife, Ruthanne, on West Shore Road. They both attended George Fox Junior High and Glen Burnie High School before marrying in 1962 and eventually settling down in the Brightwood neighborhood in Millersville.
“It’s hard to talk about my dad without talking about my mother,” his daughter said. “You talk to anybody that knew them, it’s like peas and carrots.”
Prior to establishing his own companies, Drapery Specialist and Tradesman Co-op, Mr. Gary was the foreman for the interior design firm, Chambers Co. in Baltimore. His projects took him to Bogota, Colombia; Lagos, Nigeria and the Bahamas. He later moved from decorating the interiors of homes to building custom ones.
Gary-Vereb remembers family after-church Sunday lunches at Andy’s Kitchen, the Transit Truck Stop in Millersville and Hella’s Restaurant.
“A lot of our lunches would be interrupted by people coming up and literally pulling a chair up and joining our after-church lunch,” she said. “People would walk up and talk, whether it was about a problem, a thank you or just to catch up on old times.”
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, a Democrat, wrote in a Facebook post: “I was sad to learn of the recent passing of former Anne Arundel County Executive John Gary. I am grateful for his leadership and his dedication to our county, and I am holding his loved ones in the light as they grieve his loss.”
Del. Stuart Schmidt, a Republican who represents District 33 in Anne Arundel, grew up playing sports in the Harundale Youth Sports League, where he said Mr. Gary was a constant presence.
Schmidt, also a graduate of Glen Burnie High School, said he’s taken some of Mr. Gary’s community presence into his career as both a delegate and coach.
“It’s something I’ve carried into my role as a delegate, to always be out in the community,” he said. “I always want to carry on the kind of legacy of County Executive Gary and all the elected officials that would show up for me as a kid.”
Mr. Gary’s burial was private.
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