Thomas M Menino

Mr. Menino, a Democrat, was City Council president in 1993 when the sitting mayor left for an ambassadorship and he automatically became mayor. Dismissed early on as an “urban mechanic,” Mr. Menino consolidated his power over two decades into one-man rule. Ideologically, he was a liberal Democrat representing a liberal Democratic base. His grandparents, who occupied the first floor of the family home, had emigrated from Italy. His father was a factory foreman at Westinghouse Electric. Mr. Menino graduated from high school in 1960 and briefly attended night classes at Boston College but dropped out, saying college was not for him. Besides, he said, his hero, Harry S. Truman, never attended college. But Mr. Menino later regretted that decision, and in 1988, at age 45, finally earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Out of high school, he sold insurance for Metropolitan Life. He met his future wife, Angela Faletra, in 1963 when they were playing tennis on adjacent courts. They married three years later and had two children, Susan and Thomas Jr. In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by a brother, David; a sister, Carolyn Phipps; and six grandchildren. His decision last year not to seek an unprecedented sixth term was excruciating for him. In October 2012, felled by various ailments, he was hospitalized for two months and underwent a lengthy convalescence. He left office in January at age 71 and took a position at Boston University. In February, he was found to have an advanced form of inoperable cancer that had metastasized. Still, for several months, he showed up around town, assuming an unofficial role as mayor emeritus.