know them. reporter: schaefer was born in baltimore, november 2, 1921. he served in the army, became a lawyer, then got into politics, winning most elections by a landslide. reporter: for all of his impatience with excuses in bureaucracy, he always had time for a citizen to approach him in any setting and had a problem. he wanted help. he went to work every day, committed to doing the work of the people. reporter: schaefer s favorite job was mayor. he tackled problems hands-on and promoted the city with humor. he was big so the city could be big. and that he used all of his personality to promote the city. because he had a deep faith that baltimore s best days were yet to come. here it is. reporter: in november of 2009, schaefer was honored with a statue at harbor place, one of his proudest accomplishments. the ceremony was one of his last public appearances. thank you for coming. you don t know what it means to me. in the sort of the twilight of your life. you