Kenneth Earl “Ken” McElroy Jr., an environmental engineer who founded a summer camp for children in Baltimore, died June 23 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Stadium Place. He was 85 and had previously lived in Charles Village.
Born in Petersburg, Virginia, he was the son of Kenneth Earl McElroy Sr. and Eileen Baird McElroy. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1956 and met his future wife, Dorris Wingfield Smith, there.
On June 17, they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.
Mr. McElroy earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina and another master’s degree in finance from the University of Baltimore.
In Virginia he co-founded the chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity.
He moved to Silver Spring and worked for the Washington Suburban Sanitary District Commission. He later joined the U.S. Public Health Service, the Great Lakes Basin Commission and the Maryland Health Department.
He and his wife settled on Guilford Avenue in Charles Village in the 1960s. He was active in local community projects, including a community credit union in Waverly. He also supported rent control.
He was an active political supporter of Mary Pat Clarke, former president of the Baltimore City Council.
Mr. McElroy joined the Maryland Department of the Environment and approved new sanitation facilities. He also specialized in efforts to improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay.
Mr. McElroy was a racial justice activist, serving on the board of Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc. and working with Open Door of Maryland, an adoption advocacy group.
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Mr. McElroy opposed the Vietnam War and marched in demonstrations in the 1960s.
“My father radiated peace,” said his daughter Bridget Cowie. “He showed me that love is cyclical, like evaporation and rain. The more you give, the more your heart grows, the more you have to give.”
He was a lay leader and senior director of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Nativity in Northwest Baltimore.
He also founded All God’s Children Camp in 1995 at the Bishop Claggett Center in Buckeystown, Frederick County.
“Ken acted with steadfast, gracious, justice-inspired determination,” said Michael Sarbanes, a friend and school principal in Baltimore. “And things blossomed around him. To me, the All God’s Children camp is a paradigmatic example of his work.
“Ken helped plan it, organize it, raise money for it and make this experience available to hundreds of children. Many of them later became advisors. He had a strong, purposeful, nurturing effect on the many projects and people he supported over the years.”
His daughter, Deirdre Mary McElroy, said: “My father worked tirelessly for social justice in a quiet, enduring way. He was a … loyal, reliable man who always had a broad smile and a gentle but radical welcome. He cared deeply for the least, the last and the lost.”
She said he had volunteered for decades at the Church of the Guardian Angel in Remington, where he tutored children in math at a homework club.
“He used sports analogies to teach math concepts,” his daughter said.
She said, “Ken loved Baltimore City. He cared deeply and worked tirelessly for water quality, affordable housing, social justice and closing the education gap.”
Mr. McElroy enjoyed surf fishing at Holden Beach, North Carolina and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
“My father prayed for a long time before meals, loved his ice cream and could play fictional Scrabble words with plausible meanings,” says Bridget Cowie, his daughter.
A memorial service will be held on July 20 at 11 a.m. at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation at 4 E. University Parkway.
He is survived by his wife, Dorris Wingfield Smith McElroy, a retired employee of Don Miller House, two sons, Patrick McElroy and Brendan McElroy, both of Baltimore, two daughters, Bridget Cowie, of Chevy Case, and Deirdre McElroy, of Columbia, one sister , Pat Smith of Richmond, Virginia, and six grandchildren.
