Teacher, union activist Nick Maletta, 83

Nick Maletta, a pioneer union activist and a charismatic former language teacher at Bayport-Blue Point High School who led students and friends on trips around the world, died last week while visiting family in Florida. He was 83.

Maletta, a longtime Bayport resident who in recent years lived in Moriches, was found in his hotel room Wednesday night after he failed to show up for dinner at a local restaurant after attending a Mets preseason game.

"He was really a Renaissance man," said Jim Morgo, a former Suffolk chief deputy county executive and onetime fellow teacher. "When I first came to Bayport, Nick was considered the intellectual leader. He knew everything from art, opera, culture and the theater, down to the mechanics of union politics. And for goodness' sake, he was a Latin teacher."

Another friend, William Smith, a former administrator, said Maletta was so engaging as a teacher that "the kids just gravitated to him and he put parents so at ease they allowed him to take students all across Europe."

Maletta, a Fulbright scholar with a master's degree from Columbia University, taught Latin and Spanish in Bayport-Blue Point schools from 1954 to 1971. He served as president of the local teachers union for two years. After retirement, he spent 24 years as a board member of the state teachers retirement system, often advising teachers about retirement plans. Maletta also was a board member of the Teachers Federal Credit Union for nearly two decades.

Born an only child in Ridgewood, Queens, Maletta graduated from Grover Cleveland High School at age 16, and received a bachelor's degree from St. John's University at 19. He served in the Army in the early 1950s, and belonged to the Army Reserve, retiring as a captain in 1975. He also taught at Eastern Military Academy. He wed his wife, Joan, in 1952, and the couple was married for 58 years. She died in 2010.

Steve Kelly, another friend, recalled dining with Maletta and a former student and asking the student what he learned from his former Latin teacher. "He said 'values,' " Kelly recalled. "And that made Nick cry."

SEE PHOTOSNotable deaths: Long Islanders we recently lost

Survivors include his son, Martin, of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; a daughter, Claudia Burtman, of upstate Voorheesville; and three grandchildren.

A wake will be held at Raynor and D'Andrea Funeral Home in West Sayville Sunday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and from 7 to 9:30 p.m. A funeral Mass will be offered Monday at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Snow Roman Catholic Church in Blue Point. Burial will follow at Calverton National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 16 Wade Rd. Suite 2, Latham, NY 12110 or Mercy Center Ministries, 436 W. Main St., No. 1, Patchogue, NY 11772.