John F. Linsenmeyer, a retired lawyer who had been a partner in the Baltimore law firm of Rollins, Smalkin, Richards & Mackie LLC, died of Alzheimer's disease Jan. 30 at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center.

The longtime Timonium resident was 80.

The son of Joseph Leo Linsenmeyer, a postman, and Kathleen Kenney Linsenmeyer, a homemaker, John Francis Linsenmeyer was born in Baltimore and raised in Brooklyn Park.

After graduating from Calvert Hall High School in 1954, he obtained a bachelor's degree in 1958 from what is now Loyola University Maryland.

Mr. Linsenmeyer earned a law degree in 1961 from the University of Maryland School of Law and he was admitted to the Maryland Bar that year.

He served in the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas, from 1961 to 1963. He achieved the rank of lieutenant, and was the commanding officer of the 591st Military Police Company.

From 1963 to 1969, he was a staff attorney for the Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in Baltimore. In 1970, he joined Rollins, Smalkin, Richards & Mackie. A plaintiff lawyer, he later became a partner in the firm, a position he held until he retired in 2003.

Mr. Linsenmeyer had been president of the Fountain Hill/Barclay Ridge Community Association Inc., where he helped with the Easter and Halloween parties and made sure Santa Claus visited the neighborhood at Christmas.

He enjoyed attending his children's sporting events and gardening, and was known as the “famous neighborhood whistler,” family members said. He also was a Ravens season ticket holder.

Mr. Linsenmeyer was a communicant and former member of the parish council of Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Roman Catholic Church in Timonium.

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 101 Church Lane, Cockeysville.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, the former Virginia Caballero; a son, Jack Linsenmeyer of Catonsville; a daughter, Christina Linsenmeyer of Helsinki, Finland; two sisters, Janice McCann and Kathleen Linsenmeyer, both of Catonsville; and two grandchildren.

frasmussen@baltsun.com