Al James Golato

Al James Golato passed away quietly in his sleep on November 10, 2017 at his home in Bowie, Maryland, at age 94. Al James Golato was born on June 4, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, Al entered World War II as a member of the 629th Combat Engineers and was tasked with mine detection. Later attached to the 29th Infantry Division for the D-Day landing operations at Omaha Beach, Al also fought in the battle of Saint-Lo, the fabled Battle of the Bulge, and participated in the liberation of Paris. With a 30 day military furlough, Al returned to Philadelphia and married Vera DeLarso in 1945. After WW2, Al attended Temple University and became a Revenue Agent in the Internal Revenue Service, specializing in Fraud and Racketeering. He retired in 1982, only after becoming a Charter member of the Senior Executive Service, a two time recipient of the Commissioners Award for Exceptional Service, the IRS National Director of Public Affairs, Assistant to three National Commissioners of the IRS from both political parties, and Chief Spokesman for the Agency. A Resident of Bowie Maryland since 1962, Al helped write City of Bowie’s original governing charter, was a City council member, Mayor pro-tem for two terms, Vice Chairman of City of Bowie public safety committee, a member of Bowie’s Economic Development Committee, and was awarded “Bowie Outstanding Citizen” in 1988 by the Bowie Blade News. Somehow, “Big” Al also found the time to serve as president of the Prince George’s County School Board for 13 years followed by 15 years as the Chairman of the School Ethics Panel. Al served as Corporate Director of Public Affairs for H&R Block, was the National Vice President of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) and served as a NARFE state coordinator and public relations consultant.  Al is a Founding Member of the Omaha Beach chapter of the Disabled American Veterans and served as Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Philadelphia. He served as a Member of Maryland Attorney General Grievance panel, represented the MD 5th congressional district of the Silver-Haired Congress, was a member of the National Chamber of Commerce’s National Committee on a Free and Responsible Media, worked as a network adviser for ABC during the 1984 election campaign, testified before Congress on taxes, Senior issues and education, hosted “Speak out with Al Golato” on Bowie Public Access television and appeared on Larry King, Donahue, Ted Koppel’s Nightline. Al was a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Knights of Columbus and was the Head Usher of the Saint Pius Catholic Church in Bowie, Maryland. Al and Vera, who passed in 2009, are survived by two daughters, Donna Sondberg (John) of Selbyville, DE, Denise Moroney (Ed) of Huntingtown, MD and a son James Golato, of Bowie, MD,  6 grandchildren, and 10 (soon to be 12) great grandchildren.