As Annapolis mayor in the 1980s, Dennis M. Callahan was so peeved that a volunteer coach with the city's recreation program had been charged with a drug offense that he canceled the entire athletic season, a decision met with fury by some.
Under pressure, he didn't back down, and ultimately required anyone in the city working with children to undergo a background check. It was quintessential Callahan, say those who knew him.
"A lot of politicians take polls," said House Speaker Michael E. Busch Monday at a memorial service for Callahan. "The only poll that Dennis needed was to look in the mirror."
Callahan, Anne Arundel County's chief administrative officer and former Annapolis mayor, who died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack at his Severna Park home, was remembered as a tough political leader and dedicated family man at a memorial service attended by hundreds.
County Executive John R. Leopold, County Attorney Jonathan M. Hodgson and Busch eulogized Callahan at Severna Park United Methodist Church, where the Army veteran received full military honors.
His enthusiasm for politics, they said, was surpassed only by his love for his family — his wife, Brenda, two sons, Colin and Shaun, sisters Sharon Vale and Cassandra Junk, and his five grandchildren. Several members of his family also spoke, recalling fishing and crabbing on his small sailboat and Callahan's love of poker and sports.
Leopold, who selected Callahan to serve as his top aide after winning election in 2006, said that over his 40-year political career, "I have never been closer to anyone than I was to Dennis."
"I could talk to Dennis in ways that I could not talk to other members of my administration," said Leopold, a Republican.
About two months after Leopold won re-election in 2010, Callahan left a note on Leopold's desk that read, "The voters made the right choice."
Leopold said he was touched by the gesture and in choosing Callahan as his "right-hand man," he said, "I made the right choice."
Dave Abrams, a spokesman for Leopold, said Monday that no decision has been made on whether Leopold will appoint a new chief administrative officer.
"We've really been focused on being there for the family and paying our respects," Abrams said.
Hodgson, who was the city attorney when Callahan was mayor, said Callahan could at times be "uncompromising and combative." He instituted a controversial drug task force in the city's Police Department and frequently warred with the city's housing authority.
"Not everyone liked his style, and he was fine with that," said Hodgson, who was a close friend.
Elected mayor in 1985, Callahan lost his re-election bid in 1989 and went on to run unsuccessfully for mayor again and sought the position of county executive twice. He also served as the county's director of recreation and parks from 1999 to 2006.
Callahan was often the subject of the local newspaper's cartoonist. In one drawing, Callahan was likened to the children's character "Dennis the Menace," a depiction he had framed.
"He loved that," said Busch.