(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
Former Massachusetts Lt. Governor and three-term Attorney General Francis Xavier Bellotti died on Tuesday morning at the age of 101.
“Frank’s legacy lives on through his 11 surviving children, his 25 grandchildren, and his 15 great-grandchildren, who continue to honor his memory through their own acts of service,” a statement from the family says.
An only child raised by his mother in Roxbury, Bellotti’s father, a World War I veteran, was gassed in combat. He was hospitalized and died when Bellotti was 14.
In 1940, Bellotti graduated from Boston English High School and served as a Navy officer in World War II, leading a 58-man squadron. With the help of the GI Bill, he graduated from Tufts University and Boston College Law School. He went on to long and impactful career in law, politics and business.
How Francis Xavier Bellotti entered politics
First elected to public office in 1962 as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, he later served three terms as state attorney general from 1975-87. He ran for governor three times.
Bellotti has collected dozens of awards over his long career. In June 2021, swimmers in the annual Frogman Swim Competition in Boston Harbor honored him for his service on D-Day, June 6, 1944. News articles have described him as “the last standing World War II unit squad leader of the World War II-era Scouts and Raiders, a predecessor of what today is known as the Navy SEALS.”
In 1981, the National Association of Attorneys General honored him as the most outstanding attorney general in the United States with the Louis C. Wyman award.
In 2012, the Quincy District Court was renamed the Francis X. Bellotti courthouse in his honor.
Bellotti helped found Arbella Insurance Group in Quincy in 1988.
Francis X. Bellotti’s Quincy roots
He lived in Quincy’s Wollaston neighborhood for more than 50 years, raising 12 children with his wife Maggie, before moving to Hingham several years ago. Maggie died in December 2022 at 98.
Frank and Maggie Bellotti voted at Ward 5, Precinct 8 in Wollaston in 1966.
“My dad was my North Star and supported me always, as he did all his kids,” said Michael Bellotti, the Norfolk County treasurer and former Norfolk sheriff. “I’ll miss our talks about his rich political history dating back to the ’60s and we will forever hold dear over 50 years of Sunday dinners we shared.”
Details on funeral arrangements will be shared soon, according to the statement. He died of natural causes, according to a publicist for the family.
Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at pblandino@patriotledger.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Frank Bellotti dies at 101 years old
