A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 2, for former state Sen. Richard Colburn, who died last Friday, Dec. 27, at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health in Easton. He was 74.
Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Open Bible Church in Cambridge, followed by a memorial service at the church, according to information provided by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home. Burial will be private.
Colburn, an Eastern Shore native, represented Talbot, Dorchester, Caroline and Wicomico counties as a Republican in the General Assembly for the better part of 30 years.
He served in the House of Delegates from 1983 to 1991, when he lost a GOP primary for Congress to eventual 1st District Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrest. He would subsequently lose a 2004 intraparty primary challenge to then-Rep. Gilchrest.
Colburn was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1994 and served from 1995 to 2015, when he was ousted in the Republican primary by former Sen. Adelaide Eckardt, who was herself unseated in an intraparty challenge in 2022 by Sen. Johnny Mautz (R-Middle Shore).
After losing his Senate seat, Colburn was appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to serve as an administrative aide to Maryland Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder, a position he held for eight years. Colburn’s other public service included 24 years as town manager for Federalsburg.
Colburn, a low-profile lawmaker, was a reliable conservative vote who was considered a voice for farmers, watermen and rural interests in the General Assembly.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) remembered Colburn in a social media post as a both a friend and a colleague with a “passion in fighting for our watermen, farmers, Veterans and first responders.” The Maryland Republican Party in a statement called him an “accomplished legislator who fought hard for agriculture, conservative values, bi-partisan governance, and Eastern Shore representation.”
Colburn was born Feb. 9, 1950, in Oxford to Peggy J. and Charles Franklin Colburn Jr. After graduating from Easton High School, he joined the Army, serving in Germany from 1969 to 1972 with the Army Security Agency, a former intelligence branch. He held a top security clearance for the job and was discharged with the rank of sergeant.
He worked as a produce manager and checker at the former A&P grocery on his return to the Shore, before taking the job in Federalsburg and entering politics. He retired from the Department of Agriculture in 2022.
Colburn is survived by his wife Alma Colburn; his daughter, Johanna Hamilton (Bobby); his granddaughter Saylor; his sister, Marie (John Hoffman); and countless cousins and friends.
by Maryland Matters Staff, Maryland Matters
January 2, 2025
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