Obituary of La Motta

La Motta, Joseph Michael 84, of Bedford died Tuesday, May 16, 2017 in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Joe was born during the Great Depression on September 25, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, to Dominick and Christine La Motta. He was the first in his family to earn a college degree, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Seton Hall University. He then went on to receive his MBA, with honors, from New York University’s Graduate School of Business Administration. Despite his humble beginnings, Joe had a successful 43 year career as a Wall Street professional, leading Oppenheimer Capital, a multibillion dollar investment firm, for 17 of those years. During his career in the industry he authored several articles on investment management which appeared in Pensions and Investments, Pension World, Pension and Welfare News, and various other publications. From 1991 to 1999, Mr. La Motta was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Glaucoma Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the detection, treatment, and identification of the causes of glaucoma, a degenerative eye disease. He is now Chairman Emeritus. Joe was a great supporter of the causes of the Italian American culture, most notably through his work with the Columbus Citizens Foundation, a non-profit organization that serves to foster the improvement of the art, culture, image, and education of the Italian American. For three years, he was a member of their Board of Governors and was then a member of the Philanthropic Committee. He was also a member of the National Italian American Foundation. In 1994, Joe and his wife Deena established the Joseph and Geraldine C. La Motta chair in Italian Studies at Seton Hall University, honoring Mr. La Motta’s parents. With his family, he also funded a Scholarship Endowment at Colgate University (the alma mater of his three children), a scholarship (through the Columbus Citizens Foundation) at Seton Hall Prep for qualified students of Italian descent, and a scholarship at his high school, Good Counsel in Newark, NJ. Additionally, Mr. and Mrs. La Motta have established an endowment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for innovative cancer research. Mr. La Motta served his local community chiefly through hisinvolvement with the Northern Westchester Hospital Foundation, where he served on the Board. Both a state-ofthe-art operating suite and an emergency room “Fast Track”at Northern Westchester Hospital are named for him and his wife, Geraldine. Mr. La Motta has also served on the board of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Foundation for the Blind. Among his other charitable interests are the NY Glaucoma Research Institute and the Cornea Research Foundation. Joe is the beloved husband of Deena, to whom he was married for 57 years. He is the loving father of Jodee Novak (Ed) of Yorktown Heights, NY, Dr. Joseph La Motta (Yvonne) of Mt. Laurel, NJ, and Clifford La Motta (Renata) of Ridgefield, CT. He is the devoted grandfather of Luke, Emily, Cara, Zach, Morgan and Chloe. He is the brother of Claire Tihasek and is survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Friends may call at Clark Associates Funeral Home, 4 Woods Bridge Road, Katonah, NY on Friday, May 19 from 2- 4PM and 7-9PM. A Mass of Christian Burial celebrating his life will be celebrated at St. Patrick’s Church, 7 Pound Ridge Road, Bedford, NY on Saturday, May 20th at 10am. Interment will follow at Middle Patent Rural Cemetery, 4 Bedford Banksville Road, Bedford, NY. At the family’s request donations can be made in lieu of flowers to: The Joseph M. & Geraldine C. La Motta Cancer Research Endowment Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center c/o Jane Weyl 885 Second Avenue, 8th Floor New York, NY 10017 www.tinyurl.com/lamottamskcc or The Glaucoma Foundation 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 700 New York, NY 10038 www.tinyurl.com/lamottatgf