Dick Mallary

Richard Walker Mallary (February 21, 1929 – September 27, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. He served for three years as a U.S. Representative from Vermont and was the Republican nominee for United States Senator in 1974, losing narrowly to Patrick Leahy. He died by suicide with terminal prostate cancer on September 27, 2011.

Biography

Mallary was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on February 21, 1929, and was the son of attorney R. DeWitt Mallary and Gertrude (Robinson) Mallary. He was educated at Bradford Academy in Bradford, Vermont, and received an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College in 1949.

Mallary operated a dairy farm in Fairlee, Vermont from 1950 to 1970, where he was subsequently elected chairman of the town Board of Selectmen, serving from 1951 to 1953. His mother served terms in both the Vermont House of Representatives and Vermont Senate, and he followed her into state politics by running successfully for the state House in 1960. He served from 1961 to 1969, advanced to chairman of the appropriations committee and held the position of Speaker from 1965 to 1969. In the House Mallary was recognized as one of the "Young Turks," the group of legislators who crossed party lines to advocate for progressive policies and the modernizing of Vermont's state government.

He was Trustee and Treasurer of Vermont State Colleges from 1962 to 1965. Mallary served as Chairman of the Vermont Legislative Council from 1965 to 1967, and as a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention which nominated Richard M. Nixon for President. He served as vice chairman of the Vermont Governor's Committee on Administrative Coordination in 1969.

He was a member of the Vermont Senate from 1969 to 1971. Mallary served as Vermont Secretary of Administration in 1971, in the cabinet of Governor Deane C. Davis.

Mallary was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-second Congress, filling the vacancy caused when Robert T. Stafford resigned to accept appointment to the United States Senate. Mallary was re-elected to a full term in the Ninety-third Congress, and thus served from January 7, 1972 to January 3, 1975. He was, as the Republican nominee, an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1974, narrowly losing to Patrick Leahy by a margin of 49.5%–46.4%.

Mallary was Vice President of the Farm Credit Bank in Springfield, Massachusetts from 1975 to 1977. He was Vermont's Secretary of Administration again from 1977 to 1980, in the first administration of Governor Richard A. Snelling. He served as vice president of the Central Vermont Public Service Corp. from 1980 to 1983, chairman of the board of a heating company from 1984 to 1985, and president of the Vermont Electric Power Company from 1986 to 1994.

He later resided in Brookfield, Vermont. From 1999 to 2001 Mallary served again in the Vermont House of Representatives. He voted for Vermont's Civil Unions law in 2000 even though he represented a conservative district which opposed the legislation. That fall he ran for reelection unsuccessfully as an independent. He ran again unsuccessfully in 2002.

In 2003, Mallary served as Vermont's tax commissioner, an appointed sub-cabinet position, in the administration of Republican Governor Jim Douglas.

In retirement Mallary continued to serve in local office including chairman of the town planning commission and town meeting moderator. He was also an advocate of "death with dignity" legislation. In his later years he was ill with incurable prostate cancer. He died in Brookfield on September 27, 2011. In 2012 members of his family made public the fact that Mallary had taken his life as a result of his illness.

Family

Mallary's first wife was Mary Harper Coxe. They had four children—Richard, Anne, Elizabeth and Sarah. They divorced in 1974, and in 1979 he married Jeannie (Loud) Brownell, with whom he had three stepchildren—Jonathan, Lydia and Hayden.

His nephew Peter Mallary served in the Vermont House and as chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party.Susie Steimle, WCAX-TV
Right to Die, Part 2
February 2, 2012

Electoral history

*1972 special election for U.S. House (Vermont's at-large district) (January 7, 1972)
**Richard W. Mallary (R), 55.8%
**J. William O'Brien (D), 37.6%
**Doris Lake (Liberty Union), 4.7%
** Anthony N. Doria (Independent), 1.9%
*1972 election for U.S. House (Vermont's at-large district)
**Richard W. Mallary (R), 65.0%
** William H. Meyer (D), 34.97%
**Blank or scattered, .03%
*1974 election for U.S. Senate (Vermont, Class 3)
**Patrick Leahy (D), 49.5%
**Richard W. Mallary (R), 46.4%

References

Sources

Agency of Administration

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallary, Richard Walker
1929 births
2011 deaths
Republican Party Vermont state senators
Speakers of the Vermont House of Representatives
Dartmouth College alumni
Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts
People from Fairlee, Vermont
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont
American politicians who died by suicide
Suicides in Vermont
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly