James “Jimmy” Malone Jr., a former Maryland state delegate who represented Baltimore and Howard counties for nearly two decades, died Monday of brain cancer. He was 67.

“Jimmy was a tireless advocate for our residents, championing causes such as transportation safety, infrastructure improvements, and support for our first responders,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said in a social media post. “His dedication to public service was unmatched, and his work has left a lasting impact on countless lives.”

Malone, a Democrat, was born in Baltimore on July 8, 1957. He attended Cardinal Gibbons High School and later earned an associate’s degree from Catonsville Community College.

Public service was a lifelong calling. Years before running for the House of Delegates, Malone was a member of the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department and in 1979 became its youngest-ever president, according to his professional biography. He continued to serve after his election and accumulated more than 50 years of fire service in his lifetime, according to his family obituary. He was also a former lieutenant of the Baltimore County Fire Department, retiring in 2007.

Malone was elected to the General Assembly in 1994, representing District 12A, which included Arbutus, Catonsville and Elkridge. From 2003 to 2014, he served as vice chair on the House Environmental Matters Committee. Emergency services, public safety, transportation, agriculture and natural resources were among his top issues.

Del. Dana Stein, a Baltimore County Democrat, said Malone was a friend and mentor — and as his former colleague often said, you were “never alone with Malone.” As a state representative, he was deeply devoted to his constituents, and Stein recalled more than one morning he walked in early to find Malone writing letters to community members.

Malone was a “natural extrovert,” Stein said, and a thoughtful mentor who was generous with his time and resources. He was famous for his upbeat attitude, even in the face of severe health issues. Malone beat leukemia before developing brain cancer, and “I never heard him complain,” Stein said.

“He was larger than life,” Stein said. “He loved people, and he loved life. He always had something positive to say, always in a good mood. It was just a real pleasure to be around him.”

Malone was also proud of his Irish heritage and a hardcore Notre Dame fan. Once, Stein let him know he’d discovered he was a small part Irish through an ancestry test. From then on, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, Malone jokingly called him “Delegate O’Stein.”

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said Malone was a good friend. The two overlapped in the House of Delegates for about a decade.

“He was one of the first to help welcome me to the House, always smiling and in good spirits,” Olszewski said in a social media post. “He will be missed by many, including me.”

David Ditman, a former teacher at Howard High School, said he first met Malone in the mid-1990s during his first campaign for the House of Delegates. Ditman saw him as a “consummate public servant” from the start, he said, but grew closer to him when he became the high school’s graduation coordinator.

Elected officials were always invited to the graduation ceremonies, and “somehow, with Jimmy, there was always a lot of laughter backstage,” Ditman said.

After Malone retired from the House in late 2014, Ditman said, he’d sometimes run into the former delegate around town or in his new hometown of Havre de Grace. There, Malone continued his public service with the Susquehanna Hose Company Division 5, and for about a year and a half, he oversaw Harford County’s Parks and Recreation Department.

When Ditman and Malone crossed paths, their interactions would always begin with a funny comment, followed by, “How are you, my friend?”

“It was genuine. Jimmy was always genuine,” Ditman said. “Jimmy was a man who gave back to his community, to his district, to his state and to his nation. While I would never pose as a close friend of his, I was a proud friend. He was a great man.”

Former Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat, chaired the House environment committee while Malone was vice chair. More than that, though, he was a “partner” in governance, McIntosh said.

Malone always carefully reviewed bills and actively listened to testimony, his former colleague said. Still, he had a special way of making Annapolis “lighter and more fun,” McIntosh said. He rarely called colleagues by their first names, instead opting for “buddy,” “sweetheart” or “friend.”

She recalled a time Malone was getting ready to move a controversial bill on the floor. He read the legislation over and over, preparing himself for the opposition.

After presented the bill, a conservative colleague stood up ready for a fight. She started, “Are you familiar with the Constitution of the United States?” Malone replied, “Which page?”

McIntosh can still hear the room bursting out in laughter. Even the questioner couldn’t contain herself.

McIntosh brought up that moment to Malone when she visited him just a few days ago. His health had declined, and his friends and family knew the end was near.

“Remember when you took that bill through the floor and that woman asked you if you were familiar with the Constitution of the United States?” McIntosh asked her friend.

Without skipping a beat, Malone looked over and said, “Which page?”

A visitation is scheduled for Dec. 19 at St. Joseph’s Monastery from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. A funeral Mass will take place at 11 a.m. on Dec. 20 at Ascension Catholic Church.

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