John LaFalce: New York politician John Joseph LaFalce served in the House from 1975 until 2003. Born October 6, 1939, he died April 11, 2025. In 2002, he resigned due to the merger of his district with another Democrat’s.
After winning the 94th and following Congresses, LaFalce represented Western New York for 28 years, from 1975 to 2003. Each Congress until the 107th re-elected him. He chaired the US House Small Business Committee from 1987 to 1995 and was the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee from 1999 to 2003. He did not seek reelection in the 108th Congress.
John LaFalce Obituary : His Biography and Legal Legacy
John LaFalce Background and education
Buffalo, New York, welcomed LaFalce on October 6, 1939. He graduated from Canisius High School and earned his bachelor’s from Canisius College and J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.
John LaFalce Active duty military
A captain in the US Army from 1965 to 1967, LaFalce departed active duty during the Vietnam War. After serving in the military, he joined Jaeckle, Fleischmann, & Mugel in Western New York and became interested in public service.
John LaFalce State politics
LaFalce was a 53rd District senator in 1971 and 1972 and a 140th District assemblyman in 1973 and 1974.
John LaFalce The Senate
LaFalce, 35, became the second Democrat to represent the 36th congressional district, which covers Niagara Falls, most of northern Buffalo, and Rochester’s western suburbs, in 1974. When the scandal broke, LaFalce was one of the enormous Democratic freshman class known as “Watergate babies.” He won 13 re-elections with minimal opponents.
LaFalce helped the federal government respond to the environmental disaster and hear Love Canal displaced people’s grievances as a member of his district.
He served on the House Committees on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs (now Financial Services) and Small Business for years. The Democratic Caucus elected him chairman of the Committee on Small Business in January 1987, making him the first member of his class to lead a full, standing House committee. In 1994, the House and Senate exchanged leadership, making him the committee’s leading Democrat. From February 1998 until 2003, he was the Financial Services Committee’s top Democrat.
LaFalce accomplished much in the legislature. His creations include the Competitiveness Policy Council.
He and four others shared the Financial Services Roundtable’s American Financial Leadership Award for their work on Gramm-Leach-Bliley. LaFalce proposed and promoted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which President Bush signed into law in July 2002.
LaFalce strongly opposed abortion despite his liberal Democratic views. Current member of Democrats for Life of America’s National Advisory Board. Few Democratic members voted with him on the five Iran punishment bills passed between 1997 and 2001.
After the 2000 census, two New York congressional districts were deleted. Old buddy and Republican Jack Quinn represented the opposite half of Buffalo in his 27th district; one plan advocated combining LaFalce’s region with his. The final design united his district with Rochester-based Democratic colleague Louise Slaughter’s 28th District. The new district preserved Slaughter’s number but was physically similar to LaFalce’s; Buffalo and Rochester were separated by a narrow strip of land. LaFalce declined re-election in 2002.
From 2007 until 2012, LaFalce was on the board of State Bancorp, Inc., which controlled State Bank of Long Island.
The New York State Banking Department named LaFalce to its board in 2008 and 2011.
From April 1, 2012, until May 2013, he was chairman and director of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency and a member of the Canadian-American Business Council’s advisory board.
LaFalce’s son Martin, a Georgetown Law Center graduate, comes from his marriage to Patricia Fisher. Martin is a St. John’s University School of Law professor and New York City public interest lawyer.
John LaFalce died aged 85 on April 12, 2025.
John LaFalce Honors
In addition to a Doctor of Humane Letters from Canisius College (1990), LaFalce received honorary Doctors of Law from Villanova University School of Law (1991), St. John’s University (1989), and Niagara University (1979).
Honoring John LaFalce
In moments like these, we feel the loss deeply. John LaFalce left a lasting impact on many lives.
If you have any memories or thoughts to share, please feel free to leave a comment below. Let’s come together to remember and celebrate his life.
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