Thomas John "Tom" DeMarino

1937 - 2021

DeMarino, Thomas John "Tom"

Thomas "Tom" DeMarino passed on April 6, 2021.

He was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on November 24, 1937 to Sue (Nicholson) and Thomas DeMarino, both deceased. Brother Don, lives in Philadelphia, PA. He is survived by his wife, Marge, his son Jeffrey and daughter Lynn Kitt (Lance), stepchildren Ken Swank (Tina), David Swank (Sarah), John Connell, Kathy Hintlian (Matt), Carol Gutowski, Patrick Connell, Jeffrey Luedtke (Hawley), Monica Hirsch, and his grandchildren, Peter and Ella, and 19 step grandchildren. Predeceased wives were Wendy Glenn, Joyce Swank and Betsy Luce.

Tom graduated from Greensburg High School (PA) where he played football, threw the discus on the track team and was a member of the Greensburg High School Chapter of National Forensic League (NFL). NFL was the nationwide high school competition of debating, oratory, and student congress. Tom won the Pennsylvania state oratory championship in 1954 and went to the NFL National Championship in 1955 in Student Congress, where he won an award for Superior Speaker.

Tom graduated from Dickinson College in 1959. He was a four year starter on the football team at guard, offense and defense, and was awarded Outstanding Player in the Homecoming game and Most Valuable Lineman in his senior year.

Tom was a member of Skull and Key Men's Junior Honor Society and received the 1902 Award given to the Outstanding Junior of the class. He served as President and Vice President of the Dickinson Student Senate and as President of fraternity Phi Kappa PSI.

Tom graduated from Dickinson Law School of Penn State, winning the Inaugural Abel Law Advocacy Prize, and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1963.

From 1963 to 1965 Tom served as 1st Lieutenant in the US Army. He graduated from Ranger and Airborne Schools and served as a Rifle Company Commander with the 7th Infantry Division in Korea.

Tom and prior wife Betsy moved to Denver in 1965. He was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 1965 and practiced for 33 years in Denver as Insurance Defense Counsel. He served as President and Vice President of both Colorado (Insurance) Defense Lawyers Association and the Denver Bar Association, who presented him with its Award of Merit for founding the Barristers Benefit Ball. The Ball benefits the Metro Volunteer Lawyers, which provides gratuitous legal services for unrepresented persons who cannot afford counsel.

He was a speaker on Trial Advocacy Skills for National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and a lecturer on Tort and Worker's Compensation Law at annual seminars conducted by Continuing Legal Education of Colorado, Inc (CLECI). He was named by CLECI as a Living Legend in its series of Living Legends. He was a Fellow of both the Colorado Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation.

Tom served for 20 years as Administrative Law Judge from January 4, 1999 to February 1, 2019 with Colorado Division of Worker's Compensation in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. He was appointed Chief Judge on Nov. 1, 1999 by Director Whiteside, where he served until 2012, when Administrative Law Judge Goldstein became Chief Judge.

He was the author of many publications related to the Colorado Legal Education Association (CLE) position he served.

The Law Club admitted Tom as a member in 1972, and he was an enthusiastic member of the cast in many of its shows for the Bar, all which were memorable.

Tom was an avid black diamond skier and mountain climber with Colorado Mountain Club. He loved climbs on 13,000 and 14,000 feet peaks, both summer and winter, and many were by nighttime. He climbed the Tetons and several high peaks in Peru. He was a long time member of Colorado Mountain Club, 1965-1995 and served on its Board of Governors and was Treasurer of the Colorado Mountain Club Foundation.

He was a founder of the Denver Barbarians Rugby Football Club and a longtime player of rugby, 1967-1975. He also played lacrosse with the Denver Lacrosse Club, 1965-1975.

Tom enjoyed opera and was President of Denver Lyric Opera.

In 2019 he became a weekly tutor with Whiz Kids of the Denver Leadership Foundation.

Tom was a member of the Eagle Bend Community Church.

At the time he passed, Tom's greatest love was his wife, Marge and all his children and grandchildren in their collective families.

Services will be held at Fort Logan National Cemetery, limited to family due to Covid restrictions. A memorial celebration of Tom's life will be announced at a later date.