Harford's Lisanti Recalls Time with Schaefer

Mary Ann Lisanti saw first hand the legendary drive and energy of .

As a staffer for the Harford County delegation in Annapolis, she recalled Gov. Schaefer as “an amazing, amazing person.”

But the Harford County Councilwoman representing District F—including Havre de Grace, Aberdeen, and Abingdon, among other areas—said her lasting memory of the man came just a few months ago.

“I ran into him in Baltimore. I went over to talk to him. He was failing at the time. I held his hand. I knelt down to talk to him. His eyesight was kind of failing at the time,” Lisanti recalled, noting that Schaefer remembered who she was. “I said, when the statue was unveiled of him in the inner harbor, I had a proclamation done from the county council to send down to him.”

Hearing that Lisanti had to mail the proclamation, rather than have it presented personally, the Governor grabbed her hand.

“Who wouldn’t let you present it?” he asked.

“I said, ‘I’m not really sure, Governor,’” Lisanti said.

“I want to know who told you no,” Schaefer said.

“I wouldn’t tell him,” Lisanti said. “Even after all those years, he was still demanding.”

Lisanti said she still received Christmas cards from Schaefer every year.

She said she remembered him as a man who loved Harford County.

“He loved Havre de Grace,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times we hosted him at the decoy museum. He loved [legendary decoy carver] Madison Mitchell. If it wasn’t for him and his vision, we would never have the Decoy Museum and a lot of our waterfront. He saw that. He knew what the Inner Harbor did for Baltimore. People underestimate that.

“He saw that as our Promenade, our boardwalk, and our museums. He got that on the local level. He made many trips, officially and personally,” Lisanti said.

She learned of his death Monday night at a community meeting in Abingdon.

“We had an impromptu moment of silence,” she said.

And her mind rushed back to that day in Baltimore four or five months ago. She asked Schaefer if all of his years of service were worth it.

“Every bit of it,” he said.

She said she was taken aback when he said his favorite job of all was being a councilman.

As Lisanti paraphrased, Schaefer felt, “As a councilman, you truly represent your neighborhood. And you can help people so much differently than as governor.”

Schaefer told her to enjoy her time as a councilwoman, and to never overlook anyone.

“No matter how hard the decisions are, if you look out into the crowd and it’s the least influential person in the crowd who needs your help, that’s the person you help,” Schaefer told her.

Lisanti said those comments will stick with her.

“I knew at the time that was likely going to be the last time I talked to him,” she said. “It was just happenstance that I was there. And I‘ll remember that forever.”