Gene L. Neff, public works official who once oversaw Baltimore City’s garbage collection and sewers, dies

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun
·4 min read
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Gene L. Neff, a veteran public works official who once oversaw Baltimore City’s garbage collection, sewers and street maintenance, died Jan. 24 at the Gilchrist Towson Center after suffering a fall in 2023. The Timonium resident was 91.

Born in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, he was a 1950 graduate of what is today Red Lion High Area School, where he was a member of the baseball, football and basketball teams.

In 1991 he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.

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Mr. Neff entered Pennsylvania State University, but his studies were interrupted by the Korean War. He served in the 82nd Airborne Division.

After returning from the military, he received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Indiana State University. He was also captain of the varsity baseball team.

Mr. Neff began his professional career as a civil engineer for the Middletown, Ohio, Department of Public Works.

In 1963 he earned his engineering and land surveyor licenses and became an engineer for Annapolis.

According to a family obituary, Mr. Neff worked for the city of Annapolis during the tenures of mayors Joseph Griscom Sr. and Roger Moyer.

In 1968, Baltimore Mayor Thomas J. D’Alesandro III tapped him to head the Bureau of Utility Operations, one of five new agencies created following a reorganization at the Baltimore Department of Public Works.

A 1968 Evening Sun article, headlined “The Gene Neff Method: Get the Job Done,” described him this way: “A row of pens fill the shirt pockets of Gene Neff. The weight of the pens makes the pocket sag. Mr. Neff does not seem to care.”

“Gene was respected and loved his work,” said Marcia Collins, a veteran Department of Public Works administrator.

He was in charge of Baltimore City’s garbage collection, the distribution of drinking water, street and alley maintenance, as well as storm and sanitary sewers.

After Mr. D’Alesandro left office, he was reappointed by Mayor William Donald Schaefer, who later assigned Mr. Neff to work on transportation issues.

Mr. Neff’s duties included overseeing Baltimore’s street lighting and converting many of the older lamps to a then-new technology known as sodium vapor lighting.

Neighborhood groups often battled the technology saying it damaged nearby trees.

“My father enjoyed working under Mayor William Donald Schaefer because he was a very demanding leader who brought about big changes to improve the city,” said his son, Keith B. Neff. “Schaefer liked to get things done and that was my father’s style too.”

Mr. Neff became part of Mayor Schaefer’s “Do It Now” team and would report on the progress of city projects to the mayor. He was also assigned to check on city employees’ work habits. A 1976 Evening Sun story said Mr. Neff formed a “posse” to fan out across the city to identify “errant workers.”

In 1976 Mr. Neff became the deputy director of Public Works for Baltimore County. In 1986 he was named the county director and chief engineer.

He worked under county executives Ted Venetoulis, Dennis Rasmussen, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Roger Hayden.

In 1991 the American Public Works Association named him a leader of the year.

He retired from the post in 1993.

In May 1996, Mr. Neff returned to public service as head of Baltimore County’s school facilities department.

“He completely reorganized the department and undertook a capital budget to build five new elementary schools, a high school and additions to 13 other middle and high schools,” his son said. “And after five years of working for Baltimore County Board of Education he retired again. But not for long.”

During his time with the board of education, he ended a lengthy discussion over where a new site for the burned-out Sparks Elementary School would be located, a 1996 Sun story said.

He selected a Northern Baltimore County tract in Belfast owned by the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

After leaving the schools job, Mr. Neff became the director of engineering for the Division of Corrections. He worked an additional five years and was a civil engineer for 52 years.

He was inducted into the Christie Society at the Engineers Club in Baltimore City for holding a professional engineer license for more than 50 years.

He had been chair of the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, diplomate in the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, and past president of the County Engineers Association of Maryland.

Mr. Neff was an active member of Timonium Presbyterian Church for 45 years and had served as deacon, elder and Sunday school superintendent.

His wife of 51 years, Darlene J. Shoff, died in 2006.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Timonium Presbyterian Church at 303 W. Timonium Road.

Survivors include his son, Keith Neff, of Vero Beach, Florida; two daughters, Lynn Dee Martin, of Bethany Beach, Delaware, and Wendy Garey, of Manchester; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.