Funeral For County Executive Kevin Kamenetz Draws 1K Plus

PIKESVILLE, MD — Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz was remembered as a man who loved his family and public service. During his funeral service Friday, his wife delivered insight into life with the county executive and noted the event would have made him proud.

"If Kevin were here, he would say, 'Wow, what a great turnout,'" Jill Kamenetz told the mourners gathered at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in Pikesville one day after her husband's death.

The county executive would have also relished the media coverage celebrating his life and legacy, with stories that were "all positive," she added, regarding the news coverage of his sudden passing.

Officials said her husband died at 3:22 a.m. on Thursday from cardiac arrest.

He was 60 years old and had been wearing himself thin, she said, running the county while also running for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming Maryland gubernatorial race.

"This last year was rough. We rarely saw each other....He barely slept," Jill Kamenetz said, adding that her husband's mind always seemed to be working. "He was looking tired to me, I thought. Just last week, I said to him, 'Kevin, this campaign is killing you.' He said to me, 'We're at the last stretch. This is it. Not much longer — we have about 50 days left.'"

The night before he died, Kamenetz was at Bowie State University for a candidate forum. On Tuesday, he was in eastern Baltimore County announcing opportunities that would be created by a high-tech greenhouse at Tradepoint Atlantic.

"He loved what he did. It was his passion," Jill Kamenetz said, adding: "One hundred percent he put into it."

When he awoke feeling ill at 2 a.m. on Thursday, the couple drove to the Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Company.

His chief of staff and longtime friend Don Mohler said Kamenetz did not call 911 from home because he did not want to wake his neighbors with an ambulance in the middle of the night, telling WBAL it was a "classic Kevin Kamenetz" move to think about how his actions would affect other people.

Once in the parking lot of the fire station, about 2 miles from his home, Kamenetz called 911 and said he was having tightness in his chest, officials reported. Two members sleeping at the station met him in the parking lot and although initially he was alert and conscious, officials said when they brought him into the station for an evaluation, he collapsed, lost consciousness and did not have a pulse.

Emergency medical technicians at Chestnut Ridge performed CPR, used an automated external defibrillator and restored a pulse at one point for Kamenetz, officials said. He was defibrillated three times before an ambulance with additional life-saving resources arrived from Garrison, authorities reported.

The paramedics from the Garrison fire station administered heart medication and worked to open the county executive's airways. They continued providing advanced life support measures as he was driven, with lights and sirens on, to St. Joseph Medical Center; he died there at 3:22 a.m. on Thursday.

As she eyed the casket, covered in an American flag, Jill Kamenetz said: "We shouldn't be here." She was tearful as she spoke those words before a crowd that Jmore reported included more than 1,000 people.

Before closing, she offered a word of advice. Because of her husband's busy schedule, she said they had postponed celebrating their milestone birthdays this year. Everything was "after the election," Jill Kamenetz recalled. "My advice to everyone is just do it. Don't wait."

In addition to his loving wife, County Executive Kamenetz leaves behind two teenage boys, Karson and Dylan.

"I hope he died knowing he was my role model," Karson Kamenetz said.

The teen wore sunglasses as he reflected on the unimaginable loss of his father, saying he kept waiting for his dad to arrive with an apology for being late.

Above all else, Kamenetz's family was his pride and joy, recalled his friend Senator Ben Cardin. At a recent breakfast together, Cardin said that Kamenetz began the conversation with how proud he was of his sons, Karson and Dylan, particularly for their athletic abilities, before getting into talk of politics and his campaign.

"Kevin had his priorities straight," Cardin said. “Kevin was first and foremost a family man.”

Others recalled how he would schedule his work around his commitment each day to take the boys to Gilman for school.

Addressing them, the senator said: "To Karson and Dylan, I want you to know, your father treasured you and your mom," who was his "best friend" and "most valued adviser."

While Kamenetz left many legacies, Cardin said his passion was "to help young people."

The senator recalled how Kamenetz, fresh out of law school and with a job lined up as a prosecutor for the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, took the summer off to be a camp counselor.

"Education was his top priority...and what a legacy he has left for future generations," Cardin said.

A lifelong resident of Baltimore County, Kamenetz attended Campfield Elementary School and the Gilman School before earning degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He worked for the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office as a prosecutor and served four terms on the Baltimore County Council starting in 1994. He was elected county executive in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. He was running for the gubernatorial nomination in the 2018 election.

"Kevin's family and public life were intertwined," Rabbi Andrew Busch of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation said. "At the center of this tragedy is a family that has suffered a grievous loss...It is upon the rest of us to care for and support Kevin's family as we mourn him and celebrate him."

A funeral procession followed the service to the Baltimore Hebrew Cemetery on Berrymans Lane.

The family is in mourning at their Owings Mills home on Saturday, Sunday and Monday with evening services at 7 p.m.

Contributions in memory of Kevin Kamenetz may be sent to American Cancer Society, 405 Williams Court, Suite 120, Baltimore, MD 21220 or Baltimore Humane Society, 1601 Nicodemus Road, Reisterstown, MD 21136.

The service was broadcast online through the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.

SEE ALSO:

• County Executive Kevin Kamenetz Dies At Age 60
• Funeral Plans Announced For Baltimore County Executive Kamenetz

Image of County Executive Kevin Kamenetz funeral via WJZ/YouTube.