Join the CUNY Law community in celebrating the life of Professor John Delaney; his family will celebrate John Delaney’s life in June 2022 at their beloved home in Catskill, NY. John believed his greatest professional achievement was educating his many students at CUNY Law. Professor John Delaney Memorial Fund, established by his family and friends, will support CUNY Law students. Gifts—no matter how large or how small— will provide needs-based support to CUNY Law students. For more information: https://www.law.cuny.edu/giving/john-delaney-fund.
John Delaney enjoying his view of the Hudson River in November 2021
In his 90th year, John Vincent Delaney of Catskill, New York, died from Covid-related pneumonia on 7 February 2022. Born in Manhattan on 15 November 1932, the height of the Great Depression, John and his brothers, Vincent Valentine and William, grew up in the South Bronx, with their loving mother, Elizabeth Rothwell, and resilient father, Valentine. John captured his admiration of the bravery and tenacity of his Irish Immigrant parents in his dedication of one of the books he authored, Learning Legal Reasoning, Briefing, Analysis, and Theory, “For My Beloved Parents: Valentine – who fought for the freedom of Ireland and Elizabeth – who fought for the freedom of her sons.”
The Delaney family persevered, despite Valentine’s poor health caused by spending four years as a political prisoner at Maidstone Prison in Kent, England, which resulted from his fighting the atrocities inflicted by the British Army in Ireland. Although the Delaney family possessed bountiful gifts, including their faith, love, and devotion to one another, like many Irish immigrants, their economic resources were constrained, due to the challenges and suffering caused by the Great Depression. However, their family achieved stability thanks to their relentless work ethic, the Home Relief started by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1929, and the emphasis on the education of their sons.
As a child, ‘Jack’ (his family name) sought ways to earn money to bring home to his mother.
The Delaney Brothers – John, Bill and Val (left to right)
When his older brother ‘Little Val’ gave seven-year-old Jack his shoeshine box, Jack traveled by subway from the South Bronx to Manhattan to earn money by shining shoes in Times Square, where soldiers leaving the Coca-Cola Canteen, bound for the European Theater, got a 5-cent shine. Usually, they gave him a quarter!
John’s grandmother, Annie Burns, an Irish immigrant, died young leaving John’s mother and her sister, Anna, orphaned. His grandmother worked doing laundry in the 1900s at Harvard University. She left a generations-long impression on Elizabeth who often shared her mother’s lesson with her sons, “In this country,” Annie Burns said, “education is the thing!” John credited his mother for instilling in him a lifelong love of learning.
Earning his undergraduate degree from the idyllic Rose Hill campus of Fordham University, Masters degrees in Social Science and Philosophy from The New School for Social Research, his J.D. from New York Law School, and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law, John said it was a good day whenever he learned something new!
Professor John Delaney
He served in the U.S. Army in 1955, as a Ranger Infantry Lieutenant and platoon leader. He achieved a medal in marksmanship, although he never again held a weapon after the completion of his military service.
John taught sociology at Fordham University and The New School, while attending the evening program at New York Law School. Upon graduation, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office and began his public service career working for the legendary District Attorney Frank Hogan. This is where he met and married Ida Tarallo, and, together, they have two accomplished daughters, Jacqueline Elizabeth and Joan Colette, and seven beautiful grandchildren.
John lived a life of service personally and professionally. Throughout his life, he contributed to the liberation struggles of the times from engaging “in a lot of marching and hollering for civil rights and against the Vietnam War,” as he recounted with enthusiasm, to later advocating for the liberation of gays, prison reform, and against all forms of oppression. In 1963, John attended The March on Washington to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak and responded to his call to march in Selma in 1965, a pivotal turning point in the civil rights movement. Leaving his career as a prosecutor with Frank Hogan, John ran for the State Assembly in 1966, where he met with and was endorsed by Eleanor Roosevelt and Senator Herbert H. Lehman. While he did not win, he joined fellow-reformer Rep. James H. Scheuer as a legislative assistant.
John Delaney joins the 2016 march with Justice 4 The Wrongfully Incarcerated via Central Park 5
John achieved a highly successful 30-year career as a Professor of Law teaching Criminal Law and Constitutional Law, first at NYU School of Law, and later at CUNY School of Law, thanks to his friendship with the late W. Haywood Burns. He decided to join Haywood at CUNY Law because he was dedicated to its mission of practicing law in the service of others. John played an essential role in the early days of the development of CUNY Law, the nation’s leading public interest law school. “His thoughtful approach to the many challenges we faced helped us weather more than a few storms. He will be missed, but he left a lasting legacy in the careers of many, many of our graduates,” noted Professor Victor Goode. It was here that John and Pat Ruck ’87 met and later married. Their daughter, Clare, was steadfast in her love and devotion to John.
John Delaney, Clare Delaney, and Pat Ruck ’87
Possessing a powerful intellect and continuous love of learning, John was always reading and writing during his retirement, including essays, poems, and his memoirs which he greatly enjoyed from the contentment of his home overlooking the Hudson River. His books for law school students include Learning Legal Reasoning, How To Do Your Best on Law School Exams, and Learning Criminal Law as Advocacy Argument: Complete with Exam Problems and Answers. He was also the General Editor of nine other books, mostly about comparative law, in the American Series of Foreign Penal Codes.
John Delaney, Jackie Delaney and Pat Ruck ’97
A devoted husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and friend, John is survived by Pat Ruck of Catskill, NY, and their daughter Clare Delaney (Casson Kennedy) of Cornwallville, NY; daughters Jackie Cash (Michael Cash Jr.) of Westfield, NJ, and Joan Delaney (Jack Dennehy) of New York, NY; his seven grandchildren Devin, Michael, Jack, and Grace Cash, and Jack, Julia, and Liam Dennehy; his beloved brothers and best friends William Delaney of Teaneck, NJ, and Vincent Valentine Delaney of Arroyo Grande, CA; his adored nieces and nephews; and many good friends.
The Delaney Brothers – Bill, John and Val (left to right)
The family will celebrate John Delaney’s life in June 2022 at their beloved home in Catskill, NY, purchased by John in 1965, as it reminded his family of their ancestral home in Ireland.
His colleagues and students remember him fondly:
“When my husband, Prof. Luis DeGraffe, died in 2005, John embraced my sons, Jamaal and Khalil, as his own, sharing stories of how Luis and he rode the train to Albany to advocate for additional points on the New York State bar exam for CUNY Law grads who were on the cusp of passing the bar. We became dear friends over the past 16 years, and our families have become one.” — Elizabeth Dickinson
“John was an essential player in the early days of the Law School. Like Prof. Luis DeGraffe, he believed in the students and their capacity to succeed. His ability to communicate this belief to the students and his focus on academic skills often gave them additional confidence to perform. His wry wit and ability to critique, while maintaining that twinkle in his eye, were unique. He had righteous anger masked always in his pointed questions and stories. He inherited the Irish storytelling gene and was a master. He was, in short, a good and kind soul.” — Sue Bryant
“In my early days at the Law School, John would often offer me a ride to the city after class. Although wary of his erratic driving, I would, without hesitation, take up the offer. If we could find a parking spot, we would stop off at a pastry shop on Lafayette Street, which was one of his favorite hangouts. There, we would pig out on Danish and hot chocolate, talk over the world’s problems, and then part ways for the evening. I greatly miss those days and the time I spent with him. Considering his gregarious nature, these past two years must have been especially difficult.” — Frank Deale
“It [the pastry shop] was Bruno’s. Which often was the location of crime in his hypotheticals.” — Laura Gentile ‘87
“’I’m sooo sorry to hear this news.” — Verleatha Hill
“When I first started at the Law School in 1985, he was one of the few faculty members who would greet me with enthusiasm. He liked the way I tracked down materials for him. A very lovely and decent person who truly cared about the law students.” — Julie Lim
“When I started CUNY Law, John Delaney was my 1L law seminar professor. From day one, he insisted on a client-centered approach and exemplified the public interest ethos. For issue-spotting and memo-writing exercises, he could be a tough drill sergeant. If he sensed anything short of our best, his lecture voice and expressions became more intense, but endearing warmth and wit quickly followed. He told us that we could do it — and do it well — until we believed him. John readied us for the next three years and our legal careers. I’m forever grateful.” — Camille Massey ‘95
“John pioneered mastery learning, primarily for the bar exam, an approach that still has the potential for transforming teaching and learning, perhaps now more than ever. May we honor those we have lost, care for each other, and stick together.” — Joe Rosenberg
“He was a gem. What a great listener, and yet, he, in his gentle way, would guide us off our path if he believed it was an incorrect direction. Very special.” — Rick Rossein
“I am so sorry to learn of John Delaney’s passing. He was one of my favorite professors who taught me everything about crim law. He will be sorely missed.” — Rev. Dr. Yvette Wilson-Barnes ‘97
“Thank you for sharing with us the sad, sad news that we’ve lost John. I have too many memories to know where to begin to write about them, but I do have a suggestion for how the current CUNY faculty can celebrate his life. Why doesn’t everybody agree to read his article, “Demystifying Legal Pedagogy: Performance-Centered Classroom Teaching at the City University of New York,” 22 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1332 (1991) on CUNY Law-style teaching and devote one of the Wednesday faculty sessions to discussing how to use it in our classrooms today?” –Jean Zorn