Stewart Greenleaf, longtime state senator from Montco, has died

Stewart J. Greenleaf Sr., the longtime Republican state senator from Montgomery County who deeply influenced the direction of criminal justice in Pennsylvania, died on Tuesday night at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Abington, his family said.

Sen. Greenleaf, 81, was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in 1978 and served until 2019 after announcing that he would not seek reelection. For most of his time in Harrisburg, he was the powerful chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and passed laws that ranged from Megan’s Law sex-offender registration to the Puppy Lemon law. He was one of the leaders of the tough-on-crime push during the 1990s, but in his later years pushed for moderate reforms.

In an email statement, his son, Stewart Jr., said: “My family and I already miss my father tremendously. Yet, we all take comfort knowing the positive impact he made on his local community and on Pennsylvania. His forty-plus years in public service are well-known, but we know the true depth of his compassion for everyone he came in contact with. From spending days serving meals to people suffering from drug addiction, to traveling to North Korea to take humanitarian aid to people suffering under a brutal dictatorship, he touched countless lives. That compassion, and his drive to always do the right thing, allowed him to rise above partisanship and be the legislator he was.”

His son did not provide a cause of death, and no funeral arrangements were available.

Sen. Greenleaf lived in Huntingdon Valley and is survived by his wife, Kelly, four sons, and a brother, Walter Greenleaf.

Patrick Cawley, who was counsel for the committee under Sen. Greenleaf, said in a tweet on Wednesday: “A great mentor, Pennsylvania Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf, has died. A rarity in today’s politics, he cared about justice above partisanship and was a work horse to achieve it. He taught me much about protecting the dignity of vulnerable people. Godspeed to an extraordinary man.”

John M. Elliott, chairman and chief-executive office of Elliott Greenleaf PC law firm, said in a statement that Sen. Greenleaf was highly respected on both sides of the aisle and “was widely recognized throughout Pennsylvania and nationally for courageously championing significant legislative initiatives, including antismoking in public places, expanding educational funding, criminal justice reform, enhanced transparency in judicial and legislative ethics, public transportation, infrastructure renewal, and increasing the minimum wage.”

In January 2018, Sen. Greenleaf made public his decision not to run again for his 12th District Senate seat, which also represents a portion of Bucks County.

“I love my job. I couldn’t ask for a better job,” he said in an interview with The Inquirer at the time, adding: “But there are some other things I’d like to do.”

Sen. Greenleaf grew up in Upper Moreland and got his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also played basketball. He earned his law degree at the University of Toledo Law School.

His early career included a brief stint in the state House of Representatives. He also served as an Upper Moreland township commissioner and as a prosecutor in the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

In 2000, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Democratic incumbent Joseph M. Hoeffel.

“Stewart was a real gentleman and an honorable politician who knew how to work effectively across the partisan aisle. His political opponents remained his friends. Our community will miss his leadership,” Hoeffel said an in email.

He also had a short-lived candidacy for president in 2012.

Sen. Greenleaf was replaced in the Senate by Maria Collett, a Democrat who defeated Sen. Greenleaf’s son, Stewart Jr., for the seat.

“I was deeply saddened to hear of Senator Stewart Greenleaf’s passing and I send my sincere condolences to his family, staff and loved ones,” Collett said on Twitter.

“A man of great faith and integrity, Senator Greenleaf’s character and leadership were admired by colleagues and constituents across the political spectrum,” she said in a statement.

“By setting such an example, his legacy and impact on the people of Pennsylvania will live on forever,” she said.