Berlin Mayor Thomas A. Cardinale, a Baltimore native who was nearing the end of his first term as the top official of the growing Worcester County town, died of a heart attack Saturday. He was 69.
Mr. Cardinale was born in Little Italy. He was one of 11 children growing up in an Orleans Street rowhouse. After earning a teaching degree at the University of Maryland, Mr. Cardinale taught graphic arts and printing classes in Baltimore City and Baltimore and Howard counties.
He raised his family in the Baltimore area, and enjoyed frequent summer trips to Ocean City.
It was during one of these visits that Mr. Cardinale and his wife, Mary Kay, detoured over to Berlin, a quiet town of 4,000 a few miles from the resort known for its crowded beaches and greasy french fries. In Berlin they felt at home, said Kelly Miller, Mr. Cardinale's stepdaughter.
The couple built a home there in 2001, and shortly after they moved in, Mr. Cardinale kept busy building a shed and gazebo. Though he had never expressed much interest in politics, Mrs. Cardinale said, he became active in their neighborhood association when flooding occurred.
After visits from Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest and the Army Corps of Engineers, the flooding problem in their subdivision was fixed. But, Mrs. Cardinale said, flooding problems remained throughout town. And Mr. Cardinale thought it was time for a change.
"Something just sparked him," Mrs. Miller said. "He just decided he'd run for mayor, make some changes."
In 2004, having lived in the town only three years, he challenged incumbent Rex Hailey and won more than 75 percent of the vote.
Mr. Cardinale didn't waste much time getting to know his constituents. Days after his election, he was walking down the town's main streets, notebook in hand, introducing himself to shopkeepers and asking them about their concerns. It was a technique he had picked up from his friend Del. Bennett Bozman, who represented the Eastern Shore for 15 years until his death two years ago.
"I've never seen anyone who took such immense joy and pride in serving as the mayor," said William "Gee" Williams III, the Berlin Town Council's vice president and acting mayor. "He really enjoyed serving people and getting to know them one on one."
Gov. Martin O'Malley - the former mayor of Cardinale's original hometown - had gotten to know his counterpart from Berlin and mourned his death yesterday, said his spokesman, Rick Abbruzzese.
