Anibal Brisneno

Anibal A. Brisueno, a decorated Marine Corps veteran and community activist who refused to surrender his Northwest Baltimore neighborhood to crime, indifferent property owners and trash strewn alleys, died of complications from diabetes Tuesday at Genesis Eldercare Homewood Center, He was 72.Born and raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Mr. Brisueno was one of 16 children. He was a premed student at the University of Puerto Rico for several years before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1952.He served four tours of duty in Vietnam, where he was a sharp shooter and chief of an aviation hydraulic testing unit. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1973 with the rank of master sergeant, and his decorations included the Vietnamese Cross-of Gallantry with Palm.Mr. Brisueno earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Baltimore in 1976 and associate’s degree in computer science from the Community College of Baltimore in 1992. He was an Amtrak police officer for many years until retiring in 1992.While in the military in 1965, he moved his family to their home in the 4900 block of Edgemere Ave. in the city’s Pimlico section. Eventhough he had refused to leave the deteriorating neighborhood where he lived for more than 30 years and raised eight children.Mr. Brisueno vigorously adopted the neighborhood’s problems as his own.A founder and president of the Hidden Circle Neighborhood Association, he had also been a member of the Park Heights Community corporation and Northwest Community Corporation Zoning Board. He volunteered at the Southwest Community Organization, where he also served as a translator for the Hispanic community.From a small home office that he set up in the corner of his dining room, he waged a relentless campaign against drug dealers and recalcitrant landlords. He traveled downtown and walked the hallways of City Hall banging on doors, buttonholing City Council members and departments heads in an effort to find solutions to neighborhood problems.He would spend afternoons and evenings marching house to house, handing out fliers he had printed on his computer, and urging residents to share in his battle and attend community meetings. It was not uncommon for him to be out on neighborhood streets at midnight tending to one problem or another.Mr. Brisueno led the successful campaign that resulted in the 1998 demolition of the abandoned and drug infested Denmore Apartments. He also helped get a playground, pool and playing fields built at a neighborhood recreation center. Mr. Brisueno was a communicator of St. Ambrose Catholic Church for more than 30 years.Survivors include his wife of 50 years, the former Mary Alice Green: sons, Anthony Brisueno of Stafford, VA., and Ralph Brisueno, Ramsey Brisueno and Hannibal Brisueno, all of Baltimore; daughters, Wanda Butler of Newark, Del., and Maria Brisueno-Burnett, Joanne Brisueno-Carr and Phyllis Brisueno, all of Baltimore; four brothers, Raul Brisueno, Carmelo Brisueno, Santiago, Rosario and Robert Bracero, all of Mayaguez; a sister, Teresa Bracero of Mayaquez; fifteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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Anibal Brisneno

August 17, 1930 - February 4, 2003