TEI Past International President Tom Maletta passed away in November. He is survived by his wife, Carol.
A member of TEI since 1970, Maletta was a charter member of the New Jersey Chapter and its first president. He also was active in the New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Westchester-Fairfield, Atlanta, and Virginia Chapters over the years. He served as chair of the Federal Tax Committee and Automated Data Processing Committee, and as Institute secretary, treasurer, senior vice president, and international president (1981–1982).
Maletta became Institute president as Congress was completing work on the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. He led the Institute’s efforts to raise concerns about the scope and implications of certain penalty and other administrative positions. Maletta continued to serve on the Board of Directors as a past international president until 1998, at which time he received honorary membership in TEI.
Former TEI Executive Director Timothy McCormally shared his thoughts regarding Maletta and his tenure: “I owe a special debt to Tom, because he was TEI’s international president the year I was hired to be the Institute’s first tax counsel. If memory serves, the search committee that was tasked with narrowing the group of applicants consisted of Tom, Sol Coffino, Paul Baresse, and then Managing Director Bill Lynch. The committee was also charged with hiring TEI’s first executive director (Ned Sprague), and Ned and I together were directed to take the lead in supporting and expanding the Institute’s advocacy activities. (Previously, this work was nearly the exclusive province of TEI’s committees.)
“Tom Maletta was bigger than life in many respects, and like many leaders he was not flawless or occasionally without patience in advancing his agenda. His term in office was one of great significance for the organization. It was not by accident, however, that he was the TEI member who circumstance put at the organization’s helm at a time of challenge and transition. To be sure, the organization would no doubt have made the transition to a professional tax staff at some point. But as an adherent of Thomas Carlyle’s “great man (person) theory” of leadership, I am convinced that Tom with his cohort of fellow TEI visionaries moved the Institute forward on an accelerated basis to the benefit of all TEI members and the tax system generally. And, by happy accident, Tom’s leadership rescued me from a life in private law practice and bequeathed me a career blessed with the friendship of and the opportunity to learn from hundreds if not thousands of fantastic in-house tax professionals (and fellow staffers). For that, I will personally be forever grateful.”
TEI Past International President Linda Burke noted: “I too remember Tom vividly. He was an effective leader for sure. He was very opinionated and mostly right! I also had the good experience of knowing him when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter. He built Allegheny Ludlum’s tax department into a formidable group, a mark of his leadership skills. And thank goodness he hired Timothy! It would have been hard to imagine TEI without Timothy in those eras!”
TEI Past International President David Burn also shared his memories: “Tom and I go back a long way . . . a Board meeting in Bloomington, Minnesota, where, in 1979 I think, I joined a liar’s poker game with Tom and several other ‘names’ in TEI at the time. It was costly! However, it led to a close friendship from then for some forty-five years.
“Since then, Carol and Tom and their children interacted with the Burn family at many TEI meetings across the US and Canada. Our kids grew up together. The luau he arranged at the 1981 Annual Conference in Hawaii, when he was TEI president, was truly memorable, even for those days! Another classic Maletta event we enjoyed was celebrating Thanksgiving at Tom Jr.’s home in St. Augustine.
“When a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter, [Tom] had use of his company plane, and I had the pleasure of joining him on it for a flight from Toronto to a board meeting in Quebec City and, perhaps more memorable, to the 1982 Super Bowl in Pontiac, Michigan, when the 49ers narrowly beat the Cincinnati Bengals.
“But Tom’s favorite hobby, other than saving silver coins, was fishing, and our respective families had memorable trips to Northern Ontario, Alaska, Mexico, Panama, and several [others] seeking sailfish, etc., in the Atlantic.
“I served for several years with Tom on the Board and Executive Committee and can only echo [Timothy] McCormally’s excellent summary of his significant influence in advancing the TEI agenda. Interestingly, he did not approve the creation of the IRS Administrative Affairs Committee, which may be a flaw Timothy alludes to!
“Needless to say, age and distance have drawn us apart over recent years, but the memories remain vivid of a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, colleague, and friend. He will be missed by so many.”
