Jack Delaney, whose legal career spanned government, corporate worlds, dies at 67

A rarity in government, Mr. Delaney held responsible positions regardless who was in power. A Republican, he was a deputy assistant attorney general under Elliot Richardson in the late 1960s before becoming an assistant legislative secretary to a governor from his own party, Francis. W. Sargent.

He was an assistant secretary of consumer affairs under Sargent and his successor in the governor's office, Michael S. Dukakis, a Democrat.

"Jack was a Republican and a damn good one," Dukakis said. "We worked together on lots of good things, and he cared deeply about the Commonwealth. We have too few people these days who felt, as he did, that partisanship often had nothing to do with the public interest."

When Mr. Delaney became executive director of the municipal research bureau in 1976, Globe polictical columnist Carol Surkin wrote: "How can the Dukakis administration afford to let John W. Delaney leave state government? ... He is not well known to the public. But inside state government he is recognized as a first class administrator ... ."

"I don't think he had any enemies," said Lawrence S. DiCara, a former city councilor who is now at the Boston law firm Nixon Peabody. "Very few people can be named to office by Frank Sargent and be renominated by Mike Dukakis."

"He had a great gift of friendship," said US Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat from Newton. "He understood the kinds of things politicans wanted and the kinds of things businesses wanted, and he was able to create situations where people could merge those perspectives."

John White Delaney grew up in West Springfield. His only sibling, a younger brother, died in a ski racing accident, and his parents later became foster parents to Michael Chapman, of Wilbraham.

Mr. Delaney graduated from Harvard in 1964 and Harvard Law School in 1967. Elected as a Town Meeting member in his hometown, he served as moderator when he was only 29.

In 1975, he married Betsey Secor, whom he met at a party on Martha's Vineyard.

"He was just the best father and husband and son-in-law and uncle that anybody could have wanted," she said.

Their younger daughter, Elizabeth of Newburyport, said Mr. Delaney "was always there for us. Even though he was a really hard wroker, he always had time to take us trick-or-treating or sledding. He taught me to ride a bike, how to drive. He was so generous and so kind."

That generosity extended beyond the household, said her older sister, Erin of New York City.

"He reached out and tried to help other people," she said "Whether it was a friend of mine trying to fix his or her resume, or a friend of a friend, he always had time to talk with them and help them find their way in the world. He really appreciated what his mentors did for him, and he took the time to serve as a mentor."

Mr. Delaney also found time for a host of organizations outside work and family, including working with the Trustees of Reservations conservation group, serving on the board of the Boston Zoological Society and as secretary of his Harvard class, and assisting the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

"Jack has been the conscience of the foundation during his extraordinary service on our executive committee over the past 25 years," Michael Widmer, president of the organization, wrote in an e-mail.

At work, Mr. Delaney was "an influential figure at the firm since he joined us over 20 years ago," said William F. Lee, co-managing partner at WilmerHale. "He was a valued leader, trusted counsel, and great friend to his colleagues and to the community outside of these walls."

Two of Boston's most powerful informal groups counted Mr. Delaney as a member. He was secretary in the 1980s for the Vault, a coterie of business leaders who met to discuss policy issues. More recently, he belonged to the Breakfast Group, a gathering of business, media, and political leaders that meets a few times a month.

Mr. Delaney also was such a fervent Red Sox fan that in his 40th Harvard class report, he wrote about having watched Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series "through the haze of anesthesia" after surgery to remove non-malignant tumors. When Pedro Martinez was left in to pitch and the Yankees won, "my only thought was that, well, my World Series tickets for Saturday won't be needed."

A memorial service for Mr. Delaney will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 15 in Memorial Church in Harvard Yard in Cambridge. Burial will be private in Abel's Hill Cemetery in Chilmark.

In 1979, he was among the civic leaders asked by the Boston Herald to pen an "If I Were Mayor of Boston" essay. With tongue-in-cheek humor, he suggested that setting aside rancor was a good step toward getting things done.

"It wouldn't do any harm for the mayor to be nice to other public officials. Being nice to the City Council may be illegal under the City Charter, but one could try," he wrote, adding a couple of sentences later: "Being nice to the Legislature and state officials may be prohibited in the state's Constitution, but it's still not a bad idea."