Maher, Former Santa Barbara Mayor, Dies
Patrick Joseph Maher, the veteran wartime mayor of Santa Barbara, has died at age 101.
The native of Ireland, who died Monday at his home in Carpinteria, was first appointed to a Santa Barbara city position, the fire and police commission, in 1929. He was president of the planning commission in 1936, when he accepted an offer to complete the term of Mayor E. O. Hanson, who had resigned during a court contempt trial.
Maher won election to four two-year terms, opting not to seek reelection in 1944.
While mayor, he led a 1941 bond issue campaign to purchase much of the Municipal Airport property. The city then obtained a $430,000 federal grant to improve the property and leased it to the Navy for a Marine air station during World War II.
He also sold the Naval Reserve building to the Navy for $1, because it was needed for the defense effort during World War II.
Maher moved to Santa Barbara in 1915 from Ireland. He was an Army aviation mechanic during World War I, then worked as an auto salesman, managed several service stations and late in life became a citrus grower.
Maher’s wife, Hortense, died in 1983. His survivors include 3 daughters, 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
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