Society of Senates Past
Roster

JOHN W. STEFFEY, SR.
Republican, District 6B.

Born in Baltimore, May 29, 1925.  Attended McDonogh School; U.S. Coast Guard Academy, B.S., 1946; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; The Johns Hopkins University.   Married; six children; 14 grandchildren; three great grandchildren.

General Assembly:
Member of Senate, 1965-70.  Member, Legislative Council, 1969.

Private Career and Other Public Service:
Served on active duty in U.S. Coast Guard, 1943-49; reserve duty, 1949-63.  Member, Charter Commission, City of Baltimore; Republican State Central Committee for Anne Arundel County.  District Chair and Member, Republican State Central Committee.  Past President, Maryland Real Estate Association. Officer and Director, Maryland Home Builders Association.  Member, Annapolis Yacht Club; Maryland Commission on the Capital City; Governor's Advisory Committee on the Patuxent River Watershed; Maryland Real Estate Commission; State Planning Commission; Legislative Compensation Commission.  Real estate broker and builder; Received Distinguished Service Award for the National Association of Realtors, the highest honor bestowed on a member of the association.

Personal comments and Observations:
    The most controversial issue that Senator Steffey dealt with during his tenure was "developing a comprehensive education program at Crownsville for delinquent children [and] working with the disabled."  Another controversial issue was the preservation of historic properties.
    The most memorable or humorous moment in the Senate for Senator Steffey was "believing I was having a heart attack on the floor of [the] Senate; Dr. Allen indicated I was just too fat.  [Also] the ceiling fan in [the] roof of [the] Senate breaking loose with Jimmy Pine battling his way out and the rest of us crawling under our desks."
    Senator Steffey believes that his most significant contribution to the Senate was being able to stop bills that he thought were bad for Maryland while working to pass good ones.  "When I left the service I was trained to take over my father's real estate business; [I] became interested in politics [in] early 1950 pretty much on a reform basis; [I was] one of the few Republicans elected to county-wide office during that period.  When I left the Senate I became very active in the Real Estate Trade Association where I became one of their top leaders nationally.
    "The Maryland Senate was a very close-knit body with mostly non-partisan positions on most legislation.  As congress you had the state of Maryland and Senate in your best interests; there were no boundaries."

Compiled March 16, 2000 from the biographical files of the Maryland Manual, ©Maryland State Archives and from materials submitted by Senator Steffey dated August 11, 1999.