Thomas E. Delahanty II

FALMOUTH – Former Superior Court Chief Justice and United States Attorney, Thomas E. Delahanty II, passed away at home in Falmouth on Monday, April 12, 2021, in the company of his wife of 50 years, Ruth Konecki Delahanty, and his sons Patrick and Michael. Justice Delahanty fought a tough battle with pancreatic cancer and its various side effects for more than a year.

Tom was born in Lewiston on June 6, 1945, as the first son of Thomas and Jeanne (Clifford) Delahanty. He grew up in Lewiston and lived there until building a new home and moving to Falmouth in 2002. He graduated from St. Patrick Grammar School and Lewiston High School where he was a member of the 1960 State Championship football team and made a reputation as a very good placekicker, but often reminded people that he missed a kick allowing Edward Little to win the last game his senior year, 7-6.

Tom went on to St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt., and was part of a group that worked to reinstate football as an inter-collegiate sport at the club level. He graduated in 1967 and returned to Maine to attend the University of Maine School of Law, graduating in 1970. During his last year of law school he played football for the Griffin Club of Portland in the Atlantic Coast League.

After graduating from Maine Law, Tom was an associate at the Lewiston law firm of Marshall, Raymond and Beliveau during which time he served as a part-time Assistant County Attorney and was elected as County Attorney in 1972. In 1974, Tom was elected as the first full-time District Attorney for the newly created state prosecutorial district for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties. As District Attorney, Tom was widely recognized as a leader among the state’s prosecutors by the institution of new programs and procedures, including training of assistants and creating the State’s first Victim-Witness Assistance Program which later was adopted by the Maine Legislature on a state-wide basis. Tom served on the Board of Governors of the Maine State Bar Association, as Vice-President and President of the Androscoggin County Bar Association, and as a member of the Board of Directors and Vice-President of the National District Attorneys’ Association.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Tom to replace George Mitchell as U.S. Attorney for Maine. Tom’s grandfather, John D. Clifford Jr. had previously held the position and was the longest serving U.S. Attorney in Maine, serving from 1933 to 1947.

Following the election of President Ronald Reagan, Tom left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1981 and opened the law firm of Delahanty and Longley in his native Lewiston where he practiced until his appointment in 1983 to a seven-year term as a justice of the Maine Superior Court. He was reappointed to three successive terms by four different governors serving for more than 26 years, including a five-year term as the court’s Chief Justice. He served as a Superior Court Justice and as the Senior Justice of the court longer than any other person on the state-wide Superior Court. During his time as a prosecuting attorney and Superior Court Justice, he had the opportunity to participate in over 1,000 jury trials involving all types of crimes and civil claims. He was responsible for the implementation and oversight of a number of new procedural programs and court policies. He was a third-generation judge as his father, Thomas E. Delahanty, served on the Maine Superior Court and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (1959-1985) and his grandfather, John D. Clifford Jr., served as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine (1947-1956).

In 1997, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from his alma mater, St. Michael’s, in recognition of his work for victims and witnesses, and for implementing innovative court programs and procedures.

In March 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Tom to return as U.S. Attorney for Maine, becoming the fifth person to serve two terms in this role. During his second term, he served a three-year appointment to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and played a national role in the fight against opioid abuse as the chairperson of the Attorney General’s Advisory sub-Committee on Controlled Substances and Asset Forfeiture. He also served on the AGAC sub-committees for Violent Crime, Border and Immigration, and Native American Issues. He worked to create closer relations between federal and state law enforcement, initiated a Pharmacy Robbery Task Force, and helped found the Maine Opioid Coalition to address Maine’s opioid problem.

Tom resigned as U.S. Attorney on March 10, 2017. Shortly afterwards he was appointed to be an Active-Retired Justice of the Maine Superior Court. During this time he spent time with family and friends. He continued to follow his beloved Boston Red Sox, especially during spring training near his home in Fort Myers, Fla. He never lost his love of football at all levels and was an avid supporter of the Blue Devils, Patriots, Packers, and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. In more recent years his favorite activities revolved around following his granddaughter Kiera’s equestrian competitions and hockey games, and playing with his new young grandson, Kaiden.

Tom is survived by his wife, Ruth; sons Patrick and Michael; and his grandchildren, Kiera and Kaiden. He is also survived by his youngest brother, Kevin; and a host of cousins; nephews, nieces; and in-laws, with whom he loved to gather.

Tom was predeceased by his father, mother; and brother, John.

He will be laid to rest at Mount Hope Cemetery in Lewiston at a later date. Online condolences may be left for his family at http://www.albert-burpee.com. Arrangements are under the care of Albert and Burpee Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 253 Pine St., Lewiston.

In lieu of flowers, family and friends may remember Tom with a contribution to:

The American Cancer Society.