Barbara Oberfeld “Bootsie” Mandel, the former First Lady of Maryland, passed away on Monday evening, Dec. 11. She was 103.
She was the first wife of Marvin Mandel, who served as Maryland’s governor from 1969 until 1979. He was the state’s first and only Jewish governor.
On the website of Sol Levinson & Bros, her family wrote, “A former First Lady and a Grande Dame of Maryland who lived her 103 years with kindness, courage, integrity and unrelenting optimism. Born on Maryland Day, she was a true daughter of Maryland. Her late husband Marvin Mandel was a governor of Maryland.
“Her love of family, friends and the State of Maryland were paramount in her life. Both in her personal and political life, her extraordinary wisdom was shared and her advice was sought, received and followed by many.”
A Baltimore native, Barbara Mandel was one of seven children born to Myer and Edith Oberfeld, and she attended Forest Park Senior High School. An outgoing, spirited individual, she was a loyal and devoted campaigner throughout her ex-husband’s political career.
The Mandels married on June 8, 1941, when she was 22. They had two children, Gary and Ellen.
“A great part of my life is politics,” Barbara Mandel once told the media. “I’ve always campaigned with Marvin, helping him to set up precincts and so forth. I’ve enjoyed all the years my husband has been in the legislature. I think women should be more active in politics. They should check each candidate’s record and go down to the legislature and read about the men who represent them. … I want to be well-informed on what is going on so I can discuss things intelligently with my husband.”
As First Lady of Maryland, Mandel particularly took an active interest in the restoration of Government House, the historic 54-room official residence of the governor in downtown Annapolis. (At Government House, she created a gallery of Maryland’s First Ladies, where her portrait continues to hang.)
“I think people should know what we have here,” she said. “During the legislature’s sessions [from January through March], we have tours nearly every day, often one group every half-hour. … I like greeting them myself, whenever it’s possible; it’s a good way to sense the feelings of the public. Many people stop touring the mansion long enough to tell me that they agree or disagree with some recent action or speech of the governor’s and ask me to tell him what they think. I always try to remember — and usually do.”
It was reported that Barbara Mandel considered running for elected office herself. But on July 3, 1973, Gov. Mandel made national headlines when announcing through his press office that he was leaving his wife of 32 years for his longtime friend, Jeanne Blackistone Dorsey, a divorced mother of four.
For five months well covered by the national media, Barbara Mandel remained living in the governor’s mansion and attempted to continue carrying out the duties of First Lady. When meeting with one women’s group from Southern Maryland, visitors reportedly openly wept when talking to her about her high-profile situation.
“He should see a psychiatrist,” Barbara Mandel told Time magazine. “The pressure of the job must have gone to his head. I am astonished, amazed, unbelieving. … I’m not getting a divorce. I’m trying to save our marriage. I’ve had a happy married life for a long time. I worked while he went to law school. We climbed the ladder together. We achieved the impossible dream [the governorship].”
The following year — after temporarily moving out of Government House, relocating to a five-room apartment in Annapolis and separating from Barbara Mandel — Gov. Mandel obtained a decree of divorce from her. After coming to a legal and domestic agreement, Barbara Mandel moved into her own quarters in Northwest Baltimore.
A half-hour after obtaining the final divorce, Gov. Mandel and his second wife were married on Aug. 13, 1974, at Har Sinai Congregation in Park Heights, officiated by Rabbi Abraham Schusterman. They were married for 27 years until Jeanne Mandel’s passing on Oct. 6, 2001. Gov. Mandel passed away on Aug. 30, 2015. (Barbara Mandel attended his funeral.)
“She was, in a sense, a better politician than Mandel, not as cunning at vote-counting, perhaps, but outgoing and vivacious with people and a gift for chatting up in groups where Mandel was shy, almost, and occasionally uncomfortable,” veteran political analyst Frank A. DeFilippo wrote of Barbara Mandel in Maryland Matters in March of 2020 for her centennial birthday. “He was more at home in back rooms, she out front. They were truly and visibly a power couple, one complementing the other. Until errant love did its insidious work.”
Barbara Mandel is survived by her daughter, Ellen M. Maltz; granddaughter, Morrisa Maltz; and grandson-in-law, Tommy Heitkamp; and her granddaughter, Brittany R. Mandel. She was predeceased by her son, Gary.
Services will be held at Sol Levinson’s Chapel, 8900 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville, on Friday, Dec.15, at noon. Interment is private. Contributions in Barbara Mandel’s memory may be sent to Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, 7401 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21208 or Chizuk Amuno Congregation, 8100 Stevenson Road, Pikesville, Maryland 21208.
The family will be in mourning at the Suburban Club, 7600 Park Heights Avenue in Pikesville. The family will receive guests on Friday from 3-7 p.m,. with a service at 3 p.m.
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