Emery Hertelendy

Emery Hertelendy passed away peacefully in his home in Florida on Monday, November 4, 2013. Born July 1, 1928, in Budapest, Hungary, he spent his formative years in Europe. At the outbreak of WWII, he was attending a military school near Budapest, and recalled watching trainloads of defeated Polish soldiers riding past his school in the fall of 1939. The following year, he received a coded message from his parents (who were in Paris at the time), telling him that the family would be leaving Europe as soon as possible. At the time, Emery was only 11 years old and bedridden with chicken pox, but with the help of his aunt, he was able to cover up the pox with powder and make the train ride to meet up with his parents and his younger brother Paul in Paris. It was during this time that he saw first-hand the devastating effects of the war, as they stayed one step ahead of the German Army as it swept through France. Good fortune smiled upon them, as they were able to escape on the last American ship to leave France before its impending surrender. Unfortunately, Emery’s father remained behind (his father was a Hungarian diplomat); they would not see each other again for five years. Upon his arrival in the United States, Emery knew all of three words in English. His family hired a tutor to teach him English, while he attended St. Albans School in Washington, DC, for 7th and 8th grades. He was accepted to Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, in the 9th grade, and completed the four-year program in three years by attending summer school after his 9th and 10th grade years. In the spring of 1945, at the age of 16, he both became a US citizen and met his future wife, Tamazine Taggart. In addition, he began his college education at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in June of that year (it was an accelerated program due to the war), studying Engineering and participating in Army ROTC. He graduated in 1949 with a BS in Civil Engineering (Transportation) at the age of 20, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Reserve. He was eventually discharged with the rank of Captain. He “officially” married Tam in 1949 (they were first married in secret in 1947, when he was 19 and she was 17) and they moved to Buffalo, NY, where he began his career as a construction engineer, contractor, and estimator. His first job was doing heavy construction on bridges over Niagara Falls (at an annual salary of $3,500). They moved to Cincinnati several years later, where he became a Cost Engineer for the McHugh Construction Company while building the Little Miami Sewage Works. In 1952, they moved to Washington, DC, where he performed a variety of similar jobs. One of his favorite memories was writing a technical manual for the US Navy on the operation of its dry docks; keep in mind that he was an Army Officer (USAR) at the time. He took a brief leave of absence in 1954 in order to fulfill a lifelong dream. While he had no previous boating experience, he bought a 42’ boat, and together with Tam they began their 7,000+ mile journey in Washington, DC. They travelled up the East Coast to New York City, through the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then on to Erie, PA. Detroit was next, followed by Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Chicago. They sailed the Illinois River, on to the Mississippi River, and eventually made their way to New Orleans. After reaching the Gulf of Mexico, they went on to Florida and Lake Okeechobee, ending up in Ft. Lauderdale. From there they eventually made their way back up the East Coast to Annapolis. Along the way, they had far too many adventures and close calls to mention, but suffice it to say they both grew to love and appreciate the water and boating. By the 1960s, he had branched out into other fields. He became the President of Mathematics Park, a large computer technology firm that in essence allowed for the first version of computer time-sharing amongst large companies. Their chief competitor at the time was IBM. He later became a partner in a product development company, Colgate Research & Development, based in Princeton, NJ. In 1965, he and Tam moved to Easton, MD, where they settled and raised their two sons, Bruce and Mark. He bought “Harleigh,” a farm near Oxford, on which he and his family planted over 20,000 Christmas trees. These were later sold one by one over many Christmas seasons in a choose-and-cut operation familiar to many long-time residents of Talbot County. Emery was involved in politics from a young age, sparked by Eisenhower’s election in 1952, where he went door-to-door as a volunteer. After becoming a precinct chairman, he was elected to the Republican Party Central Committee, eventually becoming Vice-Chairman, in Montgomery County, MD. At the time, he promised that he would NOT appoint his brother Attorney General if elected (a reference to JFK appointing his brother Bobby Kennedy as the United States AG). He continued to work hard for the causes that he believed fervently in, which included keeping the tax burden low and reining in the inexorable growth of government. He was instrumental in developing the first Talbot County Comprehensive Plan beginning in 1972, as he headed a committee of over 200 volunteers that put together our first county-wide plan for growth and development, zoning, etc. This plan was adopted in 1974. He is perhaps best known for his work with the Talbot County Taxpayers Association, which he helped found in the early 1970s. He quickly became one of its directors, and for 23 years (1986 through 2008) served as its President. The TCTA was instrumental in amending the Talbot County Charter twice, establishing a real estate property tax cap that kept local property tax rates the lowest in Maryland for many years. Emery loved many things, and his interests included travel, sports, boating, history, family and politics (although the latter was probably more of a love / hate relationship). He was an avid tennis player, where he was a ranked amateur in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Most of all, he was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, treating everyone he met with kindness and a smile. His intelligence, generosity, sense of humor and friendly demeanor will be dearly missed by all those who knew and loved him. Mr. Hertelendy is survived by two sons, Bruce R. Hertelendy of Boulder, CO, and Mark T. Hertelendy and his wife, Katie, of Easton; a brother, Paul Hertelendy, of Piedmont, CA; three grandchildren, Logan, Kelley and Tara Hertelendy; and a former step-daughter, Ali Platto. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., in Easton on Saturday, November 23, at 11a.m. Inurnment will be in Oxford Cemetery, in Oxford, MD, which will be private. Memorial donation in his memory may be made to the Talbot Humane Society, 7894 Ocean Gateway, P.O. Box 1143, Easton, MD 21601.

Emery Hertelendy

July 1, 1928 - November 15, 2013