Harold J. Reinhardt Sr., a former firefighter and an outdoors enthusiast, died Monday of respiratory failure at the Mallard Bay Nursing Home in Cambridge. He was 75.
Born in Lansdowne, he graduated from the Lansdowne Annex and joined the Navy in the early 1950s, serving as a cook on a submarine, said a son, Michael W. Walter of Glen Burnie.
In the late 1950s, Mr. Reinhardt became a firefighter at Fort Holabird, and after several years moved to Fort Meade's fire department, where he worked for 20 years. "Worked his way up to captain," Mr. Walter said.
In 1957, he married Patricia McNair. She died in 1997.
Mr. Walter said that his father didn't talk very much about his firefighting days.
"He met his goal, he retired at 50," he said. "I bet you don't meet many people who retire at 50."
After retiring, Mr. Reinhardt moved to Taylor's Island near Cambridge, where he hunted deer and elk and fished on the Chesapeake Bay. Hunting trips took him to Wyoming and Canada, where he shot a black bear, Mr. Walter said.
A memorial service is planned at the end of the month.
He is also survived by another son, Harold J. "Hal" Reinhardt Jr. of Baltimore; a sister, Charlotte Gardner of Pasadena; a brother, Gerald Reinhardt of Halethorpe; a granddaughter; and a great-grandson.