MDI community recalls Weinberger

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MOUNT DESERT – Caspar Weinberger may have been known as a tough politician in Washington, but when he visited his home in the village of Somesville, he quickly embraced Maine’s more laid-back lifestyle, friends and family members said.

“We used to go up and down Somes Sound in his 30-foot lobster boat copy,” his son, Caspar Weinberger Jr., said Tuesday afternoon. “I think he certainly enjoyed it when I took him up Cadillac Mountain and we watched the Queen Mary coming in. He enjoyed all of those views and the wonders of the island.”

Weinberger, 88, died Tuesday morning at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor from complications of pneumonia. His wife of 63 years, Jane, was at his side.

Weinberger, who was secretary of defense during the Reagan administration, also received a phone call from his former boss’s wife.

“I heard from Nancy Reagan yesterday in the hospital,” his son said.

The former first lady is just one of many high-profile dignitaries who remembered, and paid tribute to, Weinberger.

Former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said he was stunned by news of Weinberger’s death, which came only about two months after Cohen’s last conversation with his longtime friend.

“He sounded as strong as ever,” Cohen said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon.

Cohen called Weinberger “a happy warrior” with a keen sense of humor and an extraordinary intellect. He was a key figure, Cohen said, in President Ronald Reagan’s effort to end the Cold War, and on Capitol Hill, he was steadfast in his support for the military.

“He came to the Hill ready to do battle with anyone who would oppose him – intellectually or philosophically – and he was a formidable force,” said Cohen, who served in the U.S. Senate during Weinberger’s tenure at the Pentagon.

The switch from national figure to relaxed islander may have entailed a sea change for the politician, but Weinberger and his wife, an Old Town native, were well up to the challenge. They purchased their summer home at the head of Somes Sound in 1976 and had lived there full time in recent years.

He was remembered locally less as a warrior and more as a good neighbor who helped the local school system among other nonprofit organizations and found time to socialize with the island’s summer community.

“I’m very sad that we’ve lost him,” said David Rockefeller Sr., a Seal Harbor neighbor. “I greatly respect the role that he played. … We mostly had a very pleasant time socially and enjoyed one another’s company.”

Weinberger, an author, also made a good impression on Jan Coates of Port in a Storm Books in Somesville when he came in last summer to promote his political thriller, “Chain of Command.”

“He was wonderful,” she said. “He was always eager to come and interact with folks who had come to hear him talk. He would stay and answer every last question and sign every last book.”

The Weinbergers established a scholarship for high school students going on to a vocational program, said Bert Barker, guidance counselor at Mount Desert Island High School, and they have given thousands of dollars over the last decade toward that aim.

“I think they felt they wanted to reach out to kids who wanted to come back here to work,” Barker said.

Weinberger and his wife also supported organizations including area hospice groups, Friends of Acadia and The Jackson Laboratory, where he was a “longtime and generous friend,” according to director Rick Woychik.

“He was … a wonderful, wonderful man, both to his family and to anybody who met him,” Caspar Weinberger Jr. said. “He was always considered a consummate gentleman, always forthright. You always knew where you stood with Caspar Weinberger.”

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said that she and her husband, former Gov. John McKernan, became friends with the Weinbergers as they spent time together in Maine.

“Over the years, we became more than just colleagues,” she said. “We have lost a great American patriot. … He left an indelible mark on the course of our country’s history.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins also shared warm words about the former defense secretary.

“Cap will be remembered as a capable, effective and well-respected leader who was dedicated to ensuring that our nation’s military was strong,” she said. “In recent years, it was not uncommon to spot him strolling the sidewalks of Mount Desert Island where he was respected as a kind and unassuming man.”

One highlight of the last decade was Weinberger’s 80th birthday party, a surprise affair attended by many political notables including Gen. Colin Powell and Dick Cheney.

“It was a very nice occasion for a very nice fellow,” his son said.

His father’s impact could not be underestimated, Caspar Weinberger Jr. said, adding that Weinberger combined forces with President Reagan to end the Cold War.

“Together they brought down the Soviet Union,” his son said. “It is an amazing legacy.”

BDN writer Jeff Tuttle contributed to this report.