Joseph James Balliro, Sr., of Boston, Massachusetts and Tubac, Arizona passed away peacefully in his retirement home in Tubac on Wednesday, August 10, 2022.  He was 94.

Known as the "Dean of the Boston Bar," Balliro began as a public defender before opening his own law office.   He practiced criminal defense for six decades and tried his last case in the Eastern District of New York at the age of 86.  Balliro loved Arizona and long ago decided to make his retirement home in Tubac.

Balliro is survived by Amalia Barreda, his wife of 35 years, who is a Nogales, Arizona native.  Barreda, a television journalist, met her husband while covering one of his trials in Boston's Federal Court in 1985.  Balliro would say it was love at first sight.  They married a year later on the island of Nantucket where the couple had a home.

In his private life Balliro loved to travel, play tennis, cook, entertain friends, and gather with family.  Throughout his life he was a voracious reader.  It was always his wish to retire in Arizona.  His wife says he loved the law and the Constitution.  In court he was a fierce defender of his clients and was universally respected by judges, colleagues and adversaries.  His talents in the courtroom were unparalleled, and he was regarded as a master cross examiner with a gift for connecting with juries.  By his estimation he tried three thousand criminal cases, more than five hundred murder cases, and at one point he had more clients on death row than any other Boston attorney.

Born in Boston Balliro rose to prominence from meager beginnings.  His father, James Balliro, a Sicilian immigrant, was a cement finisher.  His mother, Anne Marie DeLembo, raised their six children in a crowded second floor tenement in Chelsea.  Joe was the oldest and the only boy with five sisters.   As a youngster he carried his shoe shine box around the city offering shines for a nickel a customer.  Neighborhood barrooms would let him keep the change he would find when he swept their floors.  When he got a little older he worked in the hull of a coal ship shoveling coal and would arrive home covered in a black film.

Aside from his loving wife Balliro is survived by four children, Juliane Balliro of Cape Cod and Florida, Joseph J Balliro, Jr of Wilmington, Mass, Patrice McGovern of Florida and Linda Balliro of Wilmington, Mass.  A fifth child, James Balliro, died in 2015.  He is also survived by seven grandchildren, five great grandchildren, and four sisters, Rita Lynch of WV, Joanne DeFlumeri of NH, Marie Czarniawski  and Lorraine Stuffle, both of Mass.  A fifth sister, Josephine Gulizia, is deceased.

Services in Arizona are pending.

A memorial service in Boston will be announced at a later date.

Donations in Joseph Balliro's name can be made to Soulistic Hospice, PO Box 1990, Tubac, AZ  85646