Wilbert Leon Sisco Sr., a retired Baltimore police detective, died of heart failure Tuesday at Chester River Hospital Center in Chestertown. He was 79 and lived in Chestertown.
Mr. Sisco grew up in Rock Hall and graduated from Garnett School. He served two years in the Army and was a sergeant stationed in Germany and Japan. He married Evelyn C. Johnson in the late 1940s. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 1954, he joined the Baltimore Police Department and started out patrolling Gay Street, Broadway and Fayette Street. On his beat and in Rock Hall, he was known as "Snooks" - a nickname he picked up as a child.
"I would go down to Gay Street and meet him on his beat, even though I wasn't supposed to, and I could tell that he was well thought of by the merchants and people we met on the street," said his daughter, Karen Corbin of Chestertown. "And even though he was gone a lot, I had no doubt he loved me."
Mrs. Corbin, who was 4 when her father joined the force, said that he would often come home with two hours of paperwork. And when she would ask him about his day, he often had the same response: "He would always say, 'It was a rough one, but we made it,'" she recalled. "As for details and if it affected him, you would never know."
Mr. Sisco retired as a detective with the criminal investigations division in 1981.
He enjoyed doing crossword puzzles, watching the Orioles and playing blackjack. Mr. Sisco moved to Chestertown in December 2004.
Plans for a memorial service were incomplete.
In addition to his daughter, survivors include a son, Wilbert Leon Sisco Jr. of Newport News, Va.; two granddaughters; and a great-grandson.