When Bob Pascal served as Anne Arundel County Executive, he put an emphasis on improving the recreation and parks program.

Pascal played football at Duke University and in the Canadian Football League, so athletics were important to him. In an effort to boost the county’s Recreation and Parks Department, he turned to another former college football player who he had gotten to know through Democratic political circles and built a close friendship.

Mike Busch was hired as an administrator for the Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks Department in 1979.

Busch — who is also a longtime county delegate to the General Assembly and the speaker of the House — is keeping his legislative job, but last month officially stepped down from parks duty, retiring after four decades with the department.

“When I hired Mike ... we were really trying to strengthen the youth sports program,” said Joe McCann, who served as director of the recreation and parks department from 1975 through 1992. “Mike brought a fresh approach to the whole athletic department. He had great ideas and knew how to get things done.”

Busch was recently feted during a special retirement party at Quiet Waters Park that was attended by about 50 guests.

“Look, I’ll be 72 in January and I’ve been here 40 years,” Busch said. “It’s been a great run, but I just think now is the right time for me to leave.

“I’ve had a wonderful career and loved every second that I’ve been with the department,” he said.

He worked as a history teacher and varsity sports coach at St. Mary’s High School before shifting to government work. He ran recreation programs in very much the same manner as he oversaw the football and basketball teams at his alma mater.

“At heart, I’m a coach and a teacher, and I was able to use those skills very effectively in this position,” Busch said. “I could not have asked to have a better job in which my avocation and vocation intersected so well.”

“Mike has a personality and a certain way about him that we tried to take advantage of,” McCann said. “I gave Mike the toughest sports to deal with and he showed very quickly the talent he had for organizing and motivating volunteers. Mike was able to build a rapport with them that made a tremendous difference.”

Busch believes the key to his success as an administrator was an ability to develop partnerships with such established organizations as the Greater Severna Park Athletic Association, Peninsula Athletic League, Brooklyn Park Youth Athletic Association and Greater Glen Burnie Junior Sports League and many others.

“We would have an organizational meeting to start every season, and I would begin by asking all the various community representatives: What do you want to do, what do you want to accomplish, who do you hope to get out of this program?” Busch said.

“We had a lot of really good volunteers who made sound suggestions and we tried our best to implement them whenever possible,” he said. “We could not have been successful as a department without building a strong partnership with the people who were out on the fields day after day.”

Busch is proud of expanding offerings for female athletics. Beebe Castro welcomed Busch as a strong advocate for improved gender equity.

“One of my greatest thrills was getting girls’ athletics going,” said Busch, who has two daughters.

Busch was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates as a representative for District 30 in 1987 and has served in that capacity since. He became speaker of the House in 2003 and had no qualms with using the position to help bolster the quality of life in Anne Arundel County.

Recreation and Parks ranked right alongside education in terms of issues Busch felt deserved funding. He has been successful getting state money to support the development of recreational facilities in his home county.

Political opponents often questioned how many hours Busch actually spent working for the Anne Arundel Recreation and Parks Department. Some said a person would be better off calling the State House if they needed to reach Busch.

Rick Anthony, current director of Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks, made no bones about the fact Busch has been more valuable to the department as a legislator than as an administrator for many years.

“What Mike has meant to this department is worth more than 10 full-time people because he absolutely has been able to bring home the bacon, so to speak,” Anthony said.

Anthony and McCann were two of the four directors Busch worked for during his time with the Recreation and Parks Department. The other two, Bill Rinehart and Tom Angelis, also attended the retirement party at Quiet Waters Park.

Anthony, who has served as director since Sept. 1, 2010, said the department would not have enjoyed the success it has without Busch contributing so much over the years.

“Mike has just been a tremendous asset to the department and advocate for the recreation programs of the county,” he said.

Anthony was initially appointed to his position by former county executive John Leopold, and said Busch “was very helpful to me in terms of teaching me about the landscape. Right from the beginning, Mike took me under his wing and made me feel right at home.”

bwagner@capgaznews.com