Martha Klima, a Baltimore County Republican who served in the General Assembly for 20 years, died of a respiratory condition Oct. 9 at the Mercy Ridge Retirement Community. She was 86 and had lived in Lutherville.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Pikesville, she was the daughter of Thomas Scanlan, a Bethlehem Steel worker, and his wife, Catherine. She was a graduate of the old Villa Julie College.
She met her future husband, James Patrick Klima Jr., at a wedding.
She became active in the Hampton Elementary School PTA and the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce. She was elected to the Maryland General Assembly’s House of Delegates in 1982 and served for 20 years. She was also a delegate to the 1984 Republican National Convention.
While in Annapolis, she was deputy minority whip. Her 2002 campaign for the U.S. Senate was unsuccessful.
In 1988, she was named the Woman of the Year by the Towsontowne Business and Professional Women’s Club. She also received a Public Service Award from the Baltimore Association for Retarded Citizens.
“She was a true Marylander,” said her son, J. Patrick “Pat” Klima III. “She loved sports and fishing for rock in the Chesapeake Bay. She also crabbed, but she probably bought more crabs than she ever caught. Family and faith were very important to her. They called her the mayor of Mercy Ridge.”
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Mrs. Klima was a volunteer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where she previously served on the board. She also served on the Maryland Parole Commission.
Survivors include her daughter, Jennifer Klima Kearney, of Timonium; two sons, J. Patrick “Pat” Klima III, of Pasadena, and Andrew Thomas Klima, of Phoenix in Baltimore County; a sister, Jane Fitzpatrick, of Olney; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson. Her husband, mechanical engineer and attorney James Patrick Klima Jr., died in 2018.
A funeral Mass was held Oct. 16 at Immaculate Conception Church in Towson.
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