H. Furlong Baldwin, who famously told The Baltimore Sun he “didn’t have a clue what a bank did” when he first walked in to seek a job at the Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Co. in 1957, died Saturday from complications arising from multiple myeloma, The Sun reported.
Aged 92, Baldwin died at his home, Eyre Hall, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Survivors include Louise Hayman, his companion of 37 years, son Severn Eyre Baldwin, daughter Mary “Molly” Baldwin and a granddaughter.
A former U.S. Marine, Baldwin began a banking career as a teller in a “loan cage,” and went on to hold the highest position at Mercantile-Safe where “[h]e led a bank you could trust,” former U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski told the Sun. He served as president and CEO of the parent company, Mercantile Bankshares Corp., and was also chairman and CEO of the lead bank.
“As a chief executive he believed in civic engagement. He was a major force for Johns Hopkins and helped save the Baltimore Symphony at a difficult time,” Mikulksi said.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Old Goucher on Charles Street, Baldwin earned a bachelors degree in history at Princeton University in 1954. He then served the Marines for two years.
Friends recalled Baldwin as a tall and imposing figure, brimming with self-confidence, toughness and reliability, the Sun said.
“He was not arrogant,” said George Johnston, a former legal counsel. “It was just the way he was.”
Mark Letzer, former president and CEO of the Maryland Center for History and Culture, called Baldwin a “force of nature and a titan of the banking and investment industries.”
Baldwin served on the boards of The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, The Johns Hopkins Health System and Johns Hopkins Medicine. For many years, he also was a trustee of The Johns Hopkins University. In 1994, the historic parlor in the Billings Administration Building of The Johns Hopkins Hospital was named the Baldwin Parlor in honor of his contributions as a trustee and fundraiser.
