Former Portage Mayor Sammie Maletta Sr. was found dead early Monday, a shock to his family.
“He died peacefully in his sleep, it looks like. He was pretty healthy, honestly,” said his son Andy Maletta, who serves as president of both the Portage Township School Board and Portage Park Board as well as executive director of Portage Economic Development Corp.
The elder Maletta was running a fever and had a bad cold, Andy said, but there were no indications that it was serious. When his daughter left at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Maletta was watching the football game on TV.
Maletta served as mayor for 12 years, from 1988 to 2000, after first having served on the City Council and as a Democratic Party precinct committeeman.
“He loved being mayor. He would always ask what was going on in Portage,” Andy said, and told stories about different things he did and how he got things done.
When current Mayor Austin Bonta would ask questions about the city’s past, Andy asked his father, who lived through most of it.
Maletta was born Sept. 21, 1932, in Gary to parents Carmine and Isabelle Maletta.
Carmine died when Maletta was 7. Isabelle later married Andy Baccaro and changed her last name but not Sammie’s.
Maletta graduated from Tolleston High School in 1950. “He had a lot of friends. They were all proud of their Tolleston days,” Andy said.
Following graduation, Maletta served in the U.S. Army.
In 1963, Maletta moved the family to Portage, a town founded in 1959. It wouldn’t become a city until 1967.
“It was just a small little town,” Andy said. “There were houses going up all over the place. Bethlehem Steel had just opened.”
Maletta “was kind of the ultimate volunteer,” Andy said. He got heavily involved with Nativity of Our Savior, helping build the church.
He served as precinct committeeman and was on the City Council for 16 years before becoming mayor in 1988.
“He loved Portage, he loved people, he loved the community,” Andy said. “He did a lot in his 12 years as mayor.”
“He had no problem going to bat and fighting for Portage,” Andy said, including obtaining funding for the city marina that was later named in his honor in 2016.
“He was friends with (East Chicago) Mayor Pastrick and the former (Hammond) Mayor McDermott,” Andy said, when marinas were being built there. Maletta battled for Portage to have a marina as well. “If somebody else had it, why not us?”
“Of all the things, I think the marina” was his biggest legacy and source of pride, Andy said.
“I remember when Portage had a little dinky little post office,” then “they built a nice big post office in Portage,” Andy said.
The city has changed a lot since Maletta arrived in Portage. Willowcreek Road ended at Lute Road. Now Porter County is planning to extend it beyond County Road 700 North to Ind. 130 and ultimately to U.S. 30. With Willowcreek extended beyond U.S. 6, the shopping corridor has grown substantially and continues to grow.
Maletta was also part of early planning of the Ameriplex at the Port development on the city’s north side.
The city also built a new fire station on Old Porter Road.
“He was a good guy. He was well respected,” former Mayor Doug Olson said Monday. “I was his clerk-treasurer, and he was mayor.”
Former Mayor John Cannon, a Republican, respected Maletta and considered him a friend.
“Sammie was a loyal opposition, and he also was a friend. The political side of it always ended after Election Day,” Cannon said.
In 2019, Maletta endorsed Cannon.
“He was concerned about Portage and the region,” Cannon said, and Maletta and his family have been pillars of the community.
But not all of Maletta’s attention was focused on the city. As a father to seven kids, Andy said, “he was the best. He was always there for us, no matter what.”
“He and I bonded a lot over sports,” especially the Cubs, Andy said.
“We always knew he was there for everything we ever needed,” always just a phone call away, for advice or help, Andy said. “He loved his family.”
Maletta had his political side, but “he was just Dad when he was home,” Andy said. “He loved having family around him.”
He is survived by his wife, Theresa (nee Moriarity), his high school sweetheart whom he married 74 years ago, as well as his children, Fr. Sammie Maletta Jr., Bob, Andy, Terese, Lori and Kathy, as well as 15 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Daughter Cindy preceded him in death.
Edmonds & Evans Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Andy said the family decided on visitation from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Nativity of Our Savior Catholic Church in Portage, followed by visitation at 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by Mass, at St. John Evangelist Catholic Church in St. John, the parish served by his son Sammie Maletta Jr.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.