WALKERSVILLE — She’s no stranger to Frederick County, but not many people know that Maggi Hays once packed a pistol in the line of duty as the first female deputy sheriff in Montgomery County.
“I became a deputy sheriff because I was graduating from Mount St. Mary’s, and I wanted a job that didn’t entail sitting at a desk and doing paperwork,” Hays said.
A friend recommended that she apply for a job with the Montgomery County Police Department. When she did, the maximum age at that time was 29 and Hays was over 30, she said.
Hays, now 73, took advantage of another opportunity.
“They told me that they had to hire a woman in the sheriff’s office, if I was interested. The phrase ‘had to’ should have been a clue,” Hays said. “They were not eager to hire women, but the state told them that they had to.”
Being the first of any group to do something — be it sex or race — can be difficult, said Hays, who worked with the sheriff’s office from 1973 to 1993.
“They tried really hard to make my life miserable, but I stuck it out for 20 years, while having to feed and clothe and house four children,” Hays said.
She met her second husband, Gary, at work. They have been married for 33 years. “I guess that was my best payoff,” Hays said.
Hays never fired her weapon in the line of duty — “although I certainly had that gun out and ready quite a few times,” she said.
But she had her share of physical encounters — “skirmishes or fights you get into when you go to make an arrest where you have to wrestle people — and that damaged the body through the years.”
Law enforcement is a great career if you’re looking for diversity in assignments, lots of public interaction and meeting all kinds of people, Hays said.
“It’s much better for women now than it was 40 years ago,” Hays said. “But it’s certainly not a big moneymaker, and the hours can be crazy.”
Hays’ father was an Army officer who taught for 12 years at West Point Military Academy in New York state, where she grew up. Hays came to Frederick when her first husband got a job teaching at Frederick Community College in 1968.
“Never thought we would stay here but this is where I raised my children, and it has been home for 43 years,” Hays said.
The couple bought a home in Walkersville in 1985 because she wanted to live in the country “but the city came right on after me, so it’s not really country anymore.”
Hays spends her days doing all the things she enjoys — including playing a lot of duplicate bridge, bowling on a team with her husband, working out at the gym and taking yoga classes. She is also active at the Unitarian Universalist Church.
“My newest pursuit is as president of the local AARP Chapter 636, and it will be different from all the Democratic activities in which I have been involved,” Hays said.
“Our AARP meetings draw more than 200 members so that’s quite a good-sized group.”
Hays is well-known for being an active member of the local Democratic party. In May, she received the Frederick County Democratic Woman of the Year award, presented by Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown on behalf of Frederick County Democratic Central Committee.
“The current political climate is so terribly partisan that it is hard to even have conversations with friends with different views,” Hays said.
“I try to just avoid that unless I am in a political setting. Then I am not shy about stating my views. I think this will be a very ugly election year, and I’ll probably keep my politicking on the private side.”
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