Anthony M. Lario, judge of New Jersey Tax Court
Before and after Anthony M. Lario was a New Jersey Superior Court judge, daughter Lynn Miller said, he was proud of his work as a pro bono lawyer.
Before and after Anthony M. Lario was a New Jersey Superior Court judge, daughter Lynn Miller said, he was proud of his work as a pro bono lawyer.
"I can't tell you how many times there were food items and pastries left on our back steps," Miller said.
"Left by people he would help and not charge."
Those clients, she said, were often "a lot of immigrants . . . people he knew could not afford it."
On Sunday, May 15, Judge Lario, 95, of Cherry Hill, a Superior Court judge in Tax Court from 1979 to 1990, died at Methodist Hospital.
One of his highest-profile decisions came after he had retired but continued on the court as a judge on recall.
In March 1993, Judge Lario found that West Deptford and Westville had overassessed the tax value of the Coastal Eagle Point refinery there in 1985, 1986, and 1987.
In May 1995, the Superior Court Appellate Division upheld his ruling. And in November 1995, the New Jersey Supreme Court also upheld Judge Lario's ruling.
An Inquirer story at the time reported that West Deptford would have to refund $4.4 million to Coastal, and Westville, which owned little of the refinery's land, would have to refund $50,000.
When Judge Lario retired in June 1990, he was succeeded by Joseph C. Small, a Tax Court judge until 2000 and its president judge until 2009.
"When I was a judge," Small said, "he was the institutional memory of tax law and tax issues in New Jersey."
Now a mediator of cases before the tax court, Small said that "Tony Lario was a very practical judge. . . . He didn't have a grand philosophy."
Mr. Lario, Small said, "was a very self-effacing guy. He didn't seek publicity."
A graduate of Camden High School in 1937 and of what is now Rutgers-Camden, Mr. Lario earned his law degree at Temple University in 1943 and served in a stateside Army intelligence unit during World War II.
In 1946, he joined the Camden law firm of his older brother, Frank M. Sr., doing pro bono work as well as representing clients such as the New Jersey Dental Association, his daughter said.
In 1954, he was named a member of the New Jersey Division of Tax Appeals and, Small said, in 1979 "he was one of the first judges when the Tax Court was created to replace the Division of Tax Appeals."
For a time, he was also a Camden County Probate Court judge, his daughter said.
Since 1992, he was of counsel in son Marc's Haddonfield law firm.
Besides his daughter and son, he is survived by his wife, Aileen; daughter Dale McMullin; a sister; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
A visitation was set from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at the Evoy-Banasz Funeral Home, 129 White Horse Pike, Haddon Heights, and from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Friday, May 20, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 42 W. Main St., Moorestown, before a 10:30 a.m. Funeral Mass, followed by military honors. Burial is to be private.
Donations may be sent to camdenkroc.salvationarmy.org.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.evoy-banaszfuneralhome.com.
610-313-8134@WNaedele