Jean B. Cryor (December 13, 1938 – November 3, 2009) was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 15, which covers a portion of

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

, and later sat on the Montgomery County Planning Board.

Background

Cryor was born (December 13, 1938) in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She lived in

for over 35 years, and died on November 3, 2009, of cancer.

Education

Cryor attended Convent of the Sacred Heart in Overbrook, Pennsylvania, now located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Pennsylvania. In 1979, she graduated from Loyola College in Maryland with her M.B.A.

Family

She married Daniel J. Cryor (1933–1978) November 21, 1959. The Cryors moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1972 for Mr. Cryor's job as a television reporter, and he later became a legislative aide for Rep.

Edwin B. Forsythe Edwin Bell Forsythe (January 17, 1916 – March 29, 1984) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey who represented parts of Burlington, Ocean, and Camden Counties in the United States House of Representatives from 1970 until h ...

. After her husband's sudden death at the age of 45, Cryor raised her three daughters, Allison, Jennifer and Deirdre, as a widow in Potomac, Maryland.

Career

Cryor spent much of her career in journalism. She was a reporter for the ''

Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...

'', and for 10 years, she was the mid-Atlantic head for the election reporting pool of the networks and wire services. She was an editor and publisher at ''The Gazette'', launching the Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Poolesville Gazettes. Cryor was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1994, winning re-election twice, serving on the Ways and Means Committee during her 12-year tenure in Annapolis. In 2005, she was the only Republican to support the creation of a Pay Equity Commission, voting to override the veto of Governor

Bob Ehrlich Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House of ...

. In 2006, she lost her bid for a fourth term by just 152 votes to Democrat

Craig L. Rice Craig Lamont Rice (born September 27, 1972) is an American politician and former member of the Montgomery County Council, serving from 2010 to 2022. Elected in 2006 to the Maryland House of Delegates, he served one four-year term and represented ...

– Cryor was the only incumbent Republican Delegate from Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Council appointed her to the County Planning Board in June 2007. Cryor was selected as a delegate for the

2000 Republican National Convention The 2000 Republican National Convention convened at the First Union Center (now the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 31 to August 3, 2000. The 2000 delegates assembled at the convention nominated Texas Governor George ...

. She was the only Republican to have been elected president of the Women Legislators of Maryland. She served on numerous boards, including the Maryland Commission for Women, the Universities of Maryland/Shady Grove,

BlackRock Center for the Arts The BlackRock Center for the Arts, officially the Germantown Cultural Arts Center ( d.b.a. BlackRock Center for the Arts), is a cultural, visual and performing arts center in Germantown, Maryland. The center is named after the nearby historic Bla ...

, the Potomac Theater Company and Montgomery Women.

Awards

Cryor won several awards over her career, including first prize for Investigative Reporting by the Maryland Society of Professional Journalists in 1993. She was honored as Citizen of the Year (1993) by the Almanac Newspapers; Legislator of the Year (2000) by the Maryland Retailers Association; Businessperson of the Year (2002) by the Maryland Businesses for Responsive Government; Building the Bridge to Excellence in Maryland Public Schools (2002) by the State Board of Education; Legislator of the Year (2002) by the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation and Registry of Maryland; Maryland's Top 100 Women by the Daily Record (2003 and 2006); the Woman of Achievement Award (2005) by the Suburban Maryland Business and Professional Women Association; and the Lifetime Service Award (2006) from the Potomac Chamber of Commerce. In July 2010, Glen Hills Park near her Potomac home was dedicated in her honor. In 2013, she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame and was awarded the House of Delegates'

Thomas Kennedy Award Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Election results

*2006 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15 Retrieved on Nov. 20, 2007 ::Voters to choose three: : *2002 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15 ::Voters to choose three: : *1998 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15 Retrieved on Nov. 20, 2007 ::Voters to choose three: : *1994 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – District 15 Retrieved on Nov. 20, 2007 ::Voters to choose three: :

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryor, Jean B. Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni Loyola University Maryland alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Politicians from Delaware County, Pennsylvania People from Potomac, Maryland 1938 births 2009 deaths Women state legislators in Maryland 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians