Stephanie Sodaro Esworthy, who staged outdoor summer concerts for the old Baltimore City Bureau of Music, died of dementia complications Oct. 27 at the Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill. The former Roland Park resident was 83.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Original Northwood on Southview Road, she was the daughter of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney Anselm Sodaro, who later served as chief judge of the old Supreme Bench of Baltimore, and his wife Ella Quotadamo, an art teacher.
She was a graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School and earned a bachelor’s degree in music from what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University.
She met her future husband, Joseph L. Esworthy, a Department of Recreation and Parks official, while working at the Baltimore City Hall.
Her daughter, Susanne Reiter, said her mother was an accomplished pianist and ukulele player.
“My grandparents owned a home in Ocean City that became a summertime gathering spot for Baltimore’s legal and political community. As a child she was exposed to local politics. People came to the Sodaro home and gathered at her piano. She quickly acquired a knowledge of the people who worked in city government.”
After working two years as a special education teacher at the old Rosewood State Hospital, Mrs. Esworthy joined the city government.
She became head of Baltimore City’s Bureau of Music. At that time Baltimore city offered a series of free summer concerts, often led by music director Leigh Martinet.
Mrs. Esworthy handled the arrangements for the outdoor performances held at the base of the Washington Monument, Wyman, Druid Hill and Patterson parks and at the Village of Cross Keys.
She attended every concert, handled publicity and distributed sing-along sheets. She also set up the schedule so that in the first part of the summer the concerts consisted of light classics and Broadway show tunes. At the end of the summer the band played jazz. She also had a broad knowledge of the active professional musicians in the city.
“My mother’s musical tastes were eclectic,” said her daughter. “She liked Gershwin, Glenn Miller, Harry Belafonte and Sam Cooke and Broadway show tunes.”
She was later director of media and public relations for the Baltimore City Film Commissioner and worked for mayors William Donald Schaefer and Clarence “Du” Burns.
“She often brought us to her work and as children we played under Mayor Schaefer’s desk,” he daughter said. “She worked closely with ‘Du’ Burns too and was with him the night he lost the election.”
After living in Roland Park, she moved to Bel Air and became a volunteer with the Humane Society of Harford County in Fallston, where she walked and cared for dogs.
In addition to her daughter, survivors include a son, Matthew Esworthy, of Parkton; two sisters, Susanne Sodaro and Christine Sodaro, both of Baltimore; and six grandchildren. Her husband, Joseph L. Esworthy, died in 1989.
Funeral services are private.
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