George J. Gibmeyer Sr., a retired Anne Arundel County police sergeant, died Thursday of complications from a stroke at a nursing home in Vero Beach, Fla. The former Glen Burnie resident was 71.

He had moved to Vero Beach in 1991, when he retired from the county police force. During his 26-year career, he had assignments on patrol in the Northern District and working in the 911 Center in Millersville.

Born in Baltimore and raised on North Belnord Avenue, Mr. Gibmeyer was a 1948 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School. As a teen-ager, he worked summers at Manresa-on-Severn, a Jesuit retreat.

He was also an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and lecturer.

"The last 16 years of his life were devoted to working with Alcoholics Anonymous in Maryland and Florida, where he served as friend to those in need of recovery from alcoholism," said a son, George J. Gibmeyer Jr. of Easton. "He was a sought-after speaker. He wore his own recovery like a badge of honor."

His marriage to the former Laura Grace Haddock ended in divorce.

He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, both in Maryland and in Florida, and a member of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, 7434 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. in Glen Burnie, where a memorial Mass is to be offered at 7 p.m. Jan. 23.

He is also survived by four other sons, Lawrence S. Gibmeyer of West Palm Beach, Fla., Michael Gibmeyer-Rettman of Aberdeen, Jeffrey L. Gibmeyer of Pasadena and Matthew H. Gibmeyer of Ellicott City; three daughters, Susan E. Gilbow of Miami, Kathryn E. Lombardi of Boca Raton, Fla., and Lorra L. Brown of Glen Burnie; his stepmother, Bernadette Gibmeyer of Baltimore; a brother, Jack Gibmeyer, and sister, Josephine Muhler, both of Baltimore; and 11 grandchildren.