GARDINER — Brian Rines knew everybody in Gardiner.

That’s what happens when someone spends most of his life in his hometown, becomes a member of several civic groups and serves 14 years as mayor.

“He knew stories about people going back to grade school and middle school,” said Dennis Doiron, who served on the City Council with Rines. “He really relished that sort of local character, local history, not only knowing somebody his own age but their parents and grandparents, and then their children and grandchildren. He was really so interested in Gardiner and the stories of people. It was just neat talking to him.”

Rines, who played a role in just about every aspect of public life in Gardiner, died Friday at his home on the Kennebec River in South Gardiner. He was 70.

People who knew him said they will remember him for his good-natured sense of humor, his love of books and his dedication to Gardiner, his birthplace.

A forensic psychologist who operated a private practice and often testified in court, Rines attended Bowdoin College and the University of South Carolina. He also lived for a time in Chicago before returning to Gardiner in the mid-1970s.

He loved and missed Maine, said his wife, Nancy Rines, a psychiatric counselor and a Kennebec County commissioner. The two of them met while working at Pinelands Hospital in New Gloucester and were married for 42 years.

“He had a quirky sense of humor,” Nancy Rines said. “He was very kind. He was very smart, and he cared — cared about people, cared about his community.”

Rines was first elected to the Gardiner City Council in the 1980s and was mayor from 1992 to 2006, when he stepped down to run for the Maine Senate — unsuccessfully, as it turned out.

While Rines was mayor, Gardiner greatly expanded its waterfront park, developed the Libby Hill industrial park and trimmed millions of dollars from the city budget.

Rines’ connections and his ability to reach out made him an effective mayor, Doiron said.

“It was a combination of knowing the history and people in Gardiner, and then his willingness to think about changes that were needed and to welcome new people,” Doiron said.

Rines was always willing to hear out complaints from residents, which made for some long meetings, Doiron recalled.

“Maybe it was his profession, but he was pretty open about people coming in and complaining about what was going on and being heard,” Doiron said. “It was very rare that he would cut off a debate.”

Rines was a committed Democrat and an advocate for the mentally ill.

He served on the boards of several professional organizations and health care institutions, and Gov. John Baldacci appointed him chairman of the Advisory Committee on Health System Development. He was past chairman of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce.

In Gardiner, Rines devoted much of his time to Christ Episcopal Church and Gardiner Public Library. He served on the library’s board several years ago and was a member of the Gardiner Library Association until his death.

Rines was supportive of the library both as mayor and personally, Director Anne Davis said. The family came to the library frequently, and he had a fondness for nonfiction books.

“I loved when Brian made donations to the library when we did book sales, because he would have some great titles,” Davis said. “He was a huge reader.”

The library is one of the organizations that Rines’ family has suggested for memorial contributions, along with Johnson Hall and MaineGeneral Health.

Rines had a rare, degenerative muscle disease and required the aid of a driver and a scooter toward the end of his life. He also was diagnosed with leukemia about six months ago.

“When he couldn’t go into the office anymore, he simply worked from home,” Nancy Rines said.

She said her husband loved gadgets, especially Apple products.

He once built a sugar shack on their property and invited schoolchildren to watch him make maple syrup — until he burned down the shack.

Another time he and a friend caught sturgeon in the Kennebec, then tied them to a dock so other people could come look at them.

“That was like him, to do these unusual things and then share them,” Nancy Rines said.

Susan McMillan — 621-5645

smcmillan@mainetoday.com