WEST POTTSGROVE — Thomas Palladino, a longtime district judge and even longer-serving township commissioner and influential elected official, died on Sept. 20 while visiting his wife in Phoenixville Hospital. He was 81.
Palladino was with family visiting his wife, Carol J. (Renninger) Palladino when he was taken ill. He went to the emergency room and several procedures were performed, according to his son, Scott Palladino.
“I went and visited him and he was mad he was going to miss the next township meeting,” his son said.
“He was a true politician. He was still sharp as a track, but he had begun to have a little trouble getting around,” said Scott, who was elected to his father’s district judge seat in 2011.
Thomas Palladino was born in Pottstown in May 1942 to the late Angelo and Mary (Morello) Palladino and moved to Stowe when he was 5.
He attended the former St. Pius X Catholic High School and was a U.S. Army veteran serving from 1962 to 1964 and was honorably discharged.
For several years he worked for his family’s business, Palladino Brothers, as a heating service technician.
Palladino later received his bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate from Temple University and was a vocational arts teacher at Pottstown High School for 25 years. After his teaching career, Thomas went on to be a district judge for 18 years.
Palladino served two stints as a West Pottsgrove Township Commissioner, first elected in the “late ’70s” and serving for 12 years, stepping down when he was elected a district judge, his son said. In 2012, after he complied with mandatory retirement from the judgeship at age 70, he ran for and was elected again to the board of commissioners.
Scott said his father donated his township paychecks to local organizations.
“The first time he ran, he ran against seven people and everyone told him he was crazy,” Scott said. “I remember making plywood campaign signs in the garage and my grandmother sitting at the kitchen table making calls for him. He won in the primary and didn’t even have an opponent in the general election.
“He was all about working for what he thought was in the people’s best interests, trying to be cost-conscious. He loved working with people and if I went somewhere with him, it was guaranteed he was going to run into someone he knew, and he always spent a few minutes talking to them, that was just him, the ultimate people person.
“As a youngster, I would hate it because those chats would sometimes turn into long conversations. As I got older, I understood that he knew and befriended so many people,” he said.
“I can’t tell you how many people have messaged me saying ‘Hey your dad was a great man, he used to be my coach,’ or ‘he was my teacher, he married me and my husband, he presided over a traffic case I had,’” Scott said. “Not everyone who comes before the bench is bad. Sometimes it’s a neighbor who made a mistake. He would listen to them and sometimes give them the benefit of the doubt and say ‘Hopefully I don’t see you back here again.’”
Palladino was only the second judge to preside over cases in District 38-1-11, having succeeded Judge Charles Dasch, who held the post for 30 years.
Palladino was a member of St. Gabriel’s Church of the Sorrowful Mother in Stowe, a Fourth Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus, a member of the Elk’s Lodge No. 814 of Pottstown and St. Gabriel’s Lodge of Stowe. He was also a member of the West End Fire Company.
Palladino loved golfing, supporting Pottsgrove athletics, and rooting for Notre Dame football.
“I used to go with him to the games and sit in the press box and I thought that was the best thing ever,” Scott said. “He would point to players on the field and say ‘I taught him, he’s in my class.’”
After a “boys’ trip” to see Notre Dame play, there were some ruffled feathers.
“My mom and the other ladies were a little miffed, so the next year we took everybody — 18 people. Those are some good memories,” Scott said.
Palladino was known to spend at least part of most days in the West Pottsgrove Township Building, not always to the delight of the township manager of the time.
“He didn’t have any bad reason for being there, he just wanted to know what was going on,” Scott said with a laugh. “He even stopped into the court from time to time to check up on me.”
He was also often seen mornings in the 7-Eleven in Stowe where he met with friends, often with fellow district justices Edward Kropp and Steve Cheiffo, both former Pottstown police officers, “and they would try to solve the problems of the world,” Scott said with a smile.
Along with his wife, son Scott and his companion Jennifer Hayes, Palladino is survived by his other children: Michelle L. Kazmierczak and her husband, Jeff, Pamela A. Palladino-Neff and her husband, Rick, and Steven A. Palladino and his wife, Jenna.
He is also survived by a sister, Ann Freese, and her husband, Edward, and two grandchildren, Jade Kazmierczak and Aria Palladino.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, Oct. 7, from 9 to 11. a.m. at St. Gabriel’s Church, 127 Jefferson St. in Stowe. A eulogy will be prior to Mass, which will be held at 11:30 a.m.
Internment will be private. A luncheon will follow after Mass at Copperfield’s on Ridge Pike in Limerick.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Gabriel’s Church, 127 Jefferson St., Stowe, PA 19464.
Arrangements are by the Warker-Troutman Funeral Home in Pottstown.
Source: Berkshire mont
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