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Montgomery County Councilwoman Marilyn J. Praisner’s legacy can be found in the county’s parks, in its public services, and in the arcane policy details that make government work.

Praisner, who served longer than any other woman in the council’s history, died Friday from complications of surgery Wednesday to replace a heart valve. She was 66.

The meticulous grandmother and former CIA bureau chief pored over the fine points of budgets and committee reports with such care and attention, she was once dubbed the ‘‘Princess of Process.”

‘‘They’re tedious and they’re not always exciting, but she would deal with them. She’d read and respond to the most minute detail of process that has benefited this county beyond measure. That, to me, is her legacy,” Leggett (D) said. ‘‘The things she fought for were the things that produce good government. You followed the process. You had transparency. And the courage and willingness on occasion to raise the tough questions or to give the tough answers.”

Leggett, who called Praisner a loyal supporter and friend, said she had helped him over his years in government.

‘‘It’s a big loss to the county,” Leggett said. ‘‘We may not notice it from day one, but as we go forward, hers will be a difficult role to fill.”

A Democrat who represented the council’s District 4, Praisner received praise from state and county leaders, who hailed her as a powerhouse who understood how to make government more accessible and transparent to people.

‘‘Marilyn was one of the folks that understood that,” said Council President Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown.

‘‘That was something Marilyn always talked about — that things got decided when there was a fair and open dialogue that was inclusive,” said Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda. ‘‘She worked hard to make sure that did happen.”

Known as a hard worker, she attended her last council meeting on Tuesday to squeeze in as much work as possible before going in for the surgery on Wednesday morning.

‘‘I’m going to miss her terribly,” Trachtenberg said. ‘‘She came into my office [Tuesday night] and we hugged and I wished her well. She gave me a to-do list, recommendations of things to read and get more information on. There were a lot of things going on in the county certainly related to the budget. I joked with her, ‘You’re giving me my marching orders’ and she said, ‘Yes.’”

Former Councilwoman Nancy H. Dacek, who served 12 years on the council with Praisner, said the county is particularly going to miss Praisner’s ability to study a budget and find what could be cut and what could not.

‘‘It’s a real loss to the county and it’s a real loss to the council and it’s a real loss for those of us who were her friends,” said Dacek, a Republican. ‘‘She was the hardest working member of the council that I’d ever known and so very bright. I’m not sure that’s a legacy, but she was one who I and others on the board looked up to and looked to for information on the budget and everything else.”

Behind the scenes, Praisner helped shape the county by making sure money could be found for the programs to make the county a better place and to make the hard decisions on saying no when money was not available, Dacek said.

‘‘Marilyn was someone who had strong convictions on things, but was willing to listen to everybody and anybody and she truly did listen,” Dacek said. ‘‘She didn’t just give it lip service. She’d take from her reading and all she heard from people and she’d come to her position.”

As a negotiator, she would work to build a consensus on the council and though she represented her district well, she also could see the big picture for the county, Dacek said.

Praisner’s daughter Alison Klumpp thanked all the county residents and leaders who had sent well-wishes and condolences.

‘‘I guess I would just want people to know how much she loved Montgomery County and how she worked so tirelessly for so many hours for so many years to make it a better place to live,” she said Friday. ‘‘And how proud we all were of the all the accomplishments and awards she has been given through the years.”

Most of all, she said, she wanted to say ‘‘just how much we loved her and how much we are going to miss her.”

Through tears, she said she had been watching Leggett and Montgomery County Board of Education Member Nancy Navarro share their memories on television.

‘‘We just greatly appreciate everyone’s love of my Mom,” she said. ‘‘She shared herself with the county so much and I appreciate everyone sharing back right now.”

On the morning of Nov. 16, Praisner was involved in a fender bender crash in the Burtonsville area. After exchanging information with the other driver, she again drove off the road and into a tree. It was learned later she was suffering from pneumonia. Coupled with a collapsed lung from the second crash, Praisner was in the hospital for six weeks. Her heart trouble was discovered while she was in the hospital and surgery was scheduled.

A Calverton resident, Praisner was the longest-serving current member of the council, in her fifth four-year term. Praisner just completed her third one-year term as council president and had previously served three one-year terms as council vice president.

Among her many accomplishments, she was known for her advocacy on children’s issues and nationally recognized leadership on technology and telecommunications legislation.

Praisner, a 38-year resident of Montgomery County, is survived by her husband Donald Praisner, three children and four grandchildren.

Praisner previously served as a member of the county’s Board of Education, where she led efforts to reduce class size, expand counseling services and add school facilities for day care and health services.

Earlier in her career, Praisner worked 16 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, serving as intelligence analyst, branch chief and staff member for the Deputy Director of Intelligence.

Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said he had last seen Praisner in her office Tuesday, before her surgery — and that the ‘‘devoted” councilwoman had been ‘‘working as much as she could” and ‘‘eager to get back to work.”

Praisner had attended a full day of council activities that day and ‘‘in typical fashion had worked on council-related matters long into the night,” despite the next day’s scheduled surgery, council spokesman Neil Greenberger said in a statement.

Andrews, who served nine years with Praisner on the County Council and the council’s Management and Fiscal Policy Committee, called Praisner a mentor and good friend whom he would greatly miss.

‘‘She was a model public official, remarkably hardworking, exceptionally conscientious about serving her constituents and always living up to the trust public placed in her by the public,” he said.

Moreover, ‘‘she had a wonderful sense of humor that showed that — while she was extremely conscientious about her work — she was able to laugh at herself and appreciate the humor in a situation,” he said. ‘‘That’s very helpful on the County Council and anywhere else.”

When Dan Epps first moved to Calverton nearly 40 years ago, Praisner was one of the first people to greet him as part of a neighborhood welcoming committee.

Even when Praisner later represented Epps and all of eastern Montgomery County, first on the Montgomery County Board of Education and then on the County Council, he thought of her as a friend above all.

‘‘She was always very supportive and loved the Calverton community,” said Epps, president of the Calverton Citizens Association. ‘‘She gave her best to us.”

Anise Key Brown, director of the Eastern Montgomery Regional Services Center, worked with Praisner for more than a decade.

‘‘I am devastated,” Brown said Friday afternoon. ‘‘She was the east county’s best friend.”

Brown, who worked with Praisner for more than a decade, said Praisner pushed for more resources and recognition for residents who felt slighted because they did not live in an urban center. Praisner’s efforts led to the opening of the Eastern Montgomery Regional Services six years ago.

‘‘I can’t imagine things without her,” she said. ‘‘She would always say, ‘Call me Marilyn,’ but it was so hard for me because I thought so highly of her.”

Barry Wides, president of the North White Oak Civic Association, first worked with Praisner in 1995 to fight a proposed cell phone tower in the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Park in Silver Spring. Three years later, Praisner made sure undeveloped land behind the White Oak Library became a low-scale, low-density housing community, which residents preferred instead of a Park and Ride or an apartment project.

‘‘She looked above politics to what was in the public interest,” Wides said Friday afternoon. ‘‘She was always a big help for us.”

Praisner was a frequent guest at the association’s meetings. At one meeting last summer, Praisner and residents had an animated discussion about housing code enforcement.

‘‘She didn’t always tell people what they wanted to hear,” Wides said. ‘‘She wanted to do the right thing.”

Stuart Rochester, an east county activist, last talked to Praisner on Wednesday before her surgery. Thirty minutes of their conversation was about a variety of issues Praisner wanted to tackle after her procedure.

‘‘I said jokingly, ‘Marilyn, I’m glad to see you’re slowing down,’” Rochester recalled Friday. ‘‘But it was not in her makeup to slow down.”

Rochester said Praisner deserved credit for her visible accomplishments in the east county, such as the services center and Fairland library and community recreation center, but also for her behind-the-scenes work. Praisner was involved in many zoning and land use issues, he said, and in the last year had been trying to find a new home for the Dutch Country Market.

‘‘Calverton, Fairland and Burtonsville would have been much poorer places without her,” he said.

Barbara Foresti, chairwoman of the White Oak Master Plan Committee, said Praisner was a big supporter of master plans and got committee members to believe in their visions.

Foresti noted Praisner’s support for Washington Adventist Hospital’s proposed move to the CalvertonŽWhite Oak area and the planned conversion of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s Site 2 regional composting plant near Route 29 and Industrial Parkway to an office park.

‘‘I admired the way she stood up for us,” she said. ‘‘All of east county loved her and what she did.”

Word of Praisner’s sudden death shocked Annapolis.

‘‘I was an admirer and an observer of the enormous capacity [of information] she had to absorb on some of the most complex issues facing our county,” said Del. Brian J. Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac, who chairs the Montgomery County House Delegation and announced Praisner’s passing on the House floor Friday. ‘‘She was one of the most substantive public policy makers I have ever met.”

Praisner, who served on the panel that drafted the landmark Thornton funding plan, worked tirelessly on education issues, said Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village.

Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp also recalled Praisner’s relentless advocacy for Montgomery County and for education. ‘‘She was in Annapolis on behalf of the county and on behalf of education in the schools over so many legislative sessions that we got used to seeing her as one more member of the legislature,” Kopp (D) said.

Praisner also worked to get more women involved in politics, she said.

Gov. Martin O’Malley recalled her dedication.

‘‘Her steadfast devotion to our children at the local, state, and national level was an inspiration to us all,” he said in a statement.

Praisner held several national leadership roles, making her ‘‘a trailblazer for women,” said Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville.

Praisner recently completed a two-year term as president of the Women of NACo Leadership Network, a national support group of county-elected officers that encourages women to take leadership roles in their communities.

‘‘She was not somebody who was out for personal gain or publicity,” Forehand said. ‘‘She understood and looked out for all segments of the population.”

Praisner was a familiar face in Annapolis, having long been engaged with the Maryland Association of Counties and serving as the body’s president in 2003.

‘‘I don’t think there was any locally elected official in this state who was as engaged in state government affairs as long as Marilyn Praisner has been,” said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, who worked closely with Praisner as a lobbyist for Montgomery County from 1995 to 2002. ‘‘There are few issues that impact local government that [she] did not help shape in Annapolis during the past 20 years.”

Staff Writers Sean R. Sedam, Alan Brody, Margie Hyslop and Sebastian Montes contributed to this report.