John W. Arata

John W. Arata, of Marblehead, passed away peacefully on February 5, 2019 at his home. A loving husband, brother, father, uncle and grandfather, John was beloved and cherished by his family and friends. He leaves behind his two sons, J. Nathaniel Arata and J. Alexander Arata, his two daughters-in-law, Kelly Dietz Arata and Melissa Huggard Arata, and his three adored grandsons, Sebastian, Lucca, and Dashiell. Most poignantly, John is mourned by his loving wife of thirty-four years, Nancy Perkins Arata, with whom he formed a bond that defined and shaped his life and provided him great joy and strength. John grew up in Rutherford, NJ with his sister Marian Arata Gascoyne and his parents John William Arata, Sr. and Mary Pinella Arata. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1958, Brown University in 1962, and received his law degree from Boston University in 1967. John was a successful athlete, playing football, basketball, and lacrosse at Deerfield. He was a center and defensive lineman for the Brown football team and was especially proud of his time on the raucous club lacrosse team under coach Cliff Stevenson. Following law school, John served as a legislative attorney for the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington D.C., an experience that served him well when he was appointed to the MassPort Board of Directors by Governor Ed King in 1983. John practiced law in Boston for over thirty years, primarily as an environmental attorney, and he was a founding partner at Perkins, Smith, Arata & Howard. In 1997, John moved to Washington, D.C. to become President of a specialized environmental risk-management consulting firm at Howrey & Simon. He then directed national business development at AIG Environmental. In recent years, John was the founder and President of Carbon Finance Strategies, LLC and found much fulfillment in his success as a developer of large solar installations. John was defined by his love of others and his ability to bring people together in profound ways. His respect for ideas, whether literary, philosophical, or political, infused his heartfelt interactions with his many friends and provided him with passions which sustained him throughout his life. A lover of jazz, history, and his Sicilian heritage, John left a legacy for his family that serves as a deep wellspring of inspiration and identity. Following a private burial at Waterside Cemetery, a gathering in remembrance of John will be held at the Boston Yacht Club, 1 Front Street in Marblehead on Friday, February 15 at 2pm. Arrangements by Eustis and Cornell of Marblehead. To share a memory or to offer a condolence to Johns family please visit www.eustisandcornellfuneralhome.com.