At Funeral, Schaefer Remembered for His Dedication to Baltimore

Crowds gathered early outside Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Wednesday to get a seat for the funeral service of William Donald Schaefer, the former mayor, governor and state comptroller who died last week at age 89.

"Keeping Baltimore safe and clean was an obsession for the mayor," said his longtime aide, Lainy M. LeBow-Sachs, during the funeral service. "Can you imagine if he had a Blackberry?"

LeBow-Sachs told the hundreds in attendance that Schaefer bestowed several management tips on all who worked with him. Among them were: Do it now, never be afraid to fail, never be territorial, pay attention to every detail and give back through volunteerism.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski said Schaefer loved talking to people on their front stoops.

"He did know Baltimore. He did know its people. He did know its neighborhoods. And he came to know the state the same way," Mikulski said. "But he was 100 percent Baltimore. He loved the neighborhoods. He grew up over on the west side. He was a public school guy. He loved it."

Mikulski said when she first went to Washington as a U.S. senator she called to ask him about what her priorities should be.

"Bucks for Baltimore, and remember that the buck stops here, so the more of it the better," she said he told her. "It was about building communities."

The senator remembered her favorite quote from Schaefer: "What are you going to do to help somebody today?"

During the funeral procession into the church, an honor guard member led a riderless horse with boots placed backwards in the stirrups. The "caparisoned horse is part of the military honors given to an Army or Marine Corps officer who was a colonel or above," according to Charles S. Kohler, public affairs officer for the Maryland National Guard.

Schaefer, who served during WWII as a hospital administrator in England, retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves in 1979.

The program for the Episcopal service features a cover photograph of Schaefer atop the words "He Cared."

The end of the program reads:

"He cared. He cared about helping people. Now do what you can to help people in tribute to perhaps Maryland's greatest public servant. Do it now."

The funeral can be watched live online at the baltimoresun.com and wjz.com.

After the 11 a.m. service, Schaefer will be interred at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium.

In preparation for the funeral service on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 the following streets will be closed with parking restrictions in effect: North Charles Street between Fayette and Mulberry Streets from 9 a.m.–2 p.m., Saratoga Street between Liberty and Charles Streets from 9 a.m.–2 p.m.