Dr. Gunther Hirsch, a retired Harford County physician who served two terms as Havre de Grace's mayor, died of congestive heart failure Monday at his home. He was 89.
Born in Munich, Germany, he was the son of Eugene Hirsch, a leather goods merchant, and his wife, Nellie. The family, who were Jews, fled Germany about 1935. They settled in what was then Palestine, where Dr. Hirsch met his future wife, Poldi Rothenberg. They were playing tennis.
He left school at age 12 to work in his father's bakery business. Family members said he was determined to be a physician and left Palestine. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Geneva, where he also earned a Bachelor of Science degree and his medical degree. His wife studied architecture there.
In 1954, he, his wife and a daughter moved to Sewickley, Pa. He was an intern at the University of Pittsburgh and later received a master's degree in public health.
The family then decided to settle in Havre de Grace. Dr. Hirsch practiced general medicine for more than 35 years and delivered hundreds of babies during that time. Family members said he was a pioneer in Harford County in having a non-segregated practice at his first office on Commerce Street.
"It was the 1950s, and people advised him to have a segregated waiting room," said his daughter, Dr. Edna Hirsch, a dentist. "He said, 'I'll have none of that.'"
He later spent eight years as chief of staff at Harford Memorial Hospital.
A proponent of the arts, Dr. Hirsch was a founder of the Harford Opera Company and brought the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to Havre de Grace for performances. In 1964, he founded an art show at Tydings Memorial Park on the Chesapeake Bay.
"He attracted artists because he was not going to charge them an entrance fee," said his daughter, who is a Churchville resident. "It was a huge event in its day."
He was elected to the Havre de Grace City Council in May 1985 and served two terms. He was elected mayor in 1989 and served until 1997. He then chose not to run and was elected president of the Harford County Council.
During his tenure, a new Havre de Grace city hall was constructed. It is now called the Gunther Hirsch Government Center.
"Havre de Grace cannot compare with Baltimore, Ocean City or Annapolis," he wrote in The Baltimore Sun in 1986. "It has a wonderful charm and a wonderful location at the confluence of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. ... It is the duck decoy capital of the world, a historic town and a quiet town."
His daughter called him a "financially responsible Democrat" who balanced his budgets and believed in good street paving and a waterfront boardwalk.
"Towns often rely too much on the federal and the state government for things we should be doing locally," he said in a 1989 Sun story.
David Craig, who is now the state secretary for the Department of Planning and is a former Harford County executive and Havre de Grace mayor, recalled Dr. Hirsch: "Gunther was personable and easy to get along with. He was well known from his work at the hospital."
Dr. Hirsch waged a campaign to keep Harford Memorial Hospital open when Upper Chesapeake Medical Center was being planned.
His family said Dr. Hirsch enjoyed overseas and U.S. travel. He lived in a midcentury modern home designed by his first wife, an architect, who died in 1987 after nearly 40 years of marriage.
Dr. Hirsch enjoyed tennis, skiing, symphony concerts, the opera and art. He was a devotee of coffee shops and liked plum cake.
While on a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II, he met his future wife, Suzie Rossidou, who later became his campaign manager.
"He had a very strong personality," Mrs. Hirsch said. "He had a good sense of humor and he never procrastinated. He never missed a thing. He looked every patient in the eye and paid attention to what they said. As a politician, he told it like it was. That could be difficult for him. He always thought outside the box."
In 2010, he published an autobiography, "From Exile to Life." His second book, about the medical system, was called "Sick! Patients First."
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Temple Adas Shalom, 8 N. Earlton Road, Havre de Grace.
In addition to his daughter and his wife of 25 years, survivors include two other daughters, Dr. Dahlia Hirsch, an ophthalmologist, of Abingdon and Dr. Elaine Hirsch, a podiatrist, of Havre de Grace; a stepson, George Rossides of Cyprus; a stepdaughter, Marie Rossides, also of Cyprus; and eight grandchildren.