John W. Pelino, 75; city labor lawyer

John W. Pelino, 75, a tough, respected Center City labor lawyer known for his dramatic courtroom legal battles, died of a heart attack March 22 while swimming off Tortola in the Virgin Islands, where he was vacationing.

"On the second day of our trip, John drove a jet ski in the morning for the first time. He was like a kid - he flew around like a bullet, having a great time with a group of guys," said longtime client and friend Herb Lotman, founder of Keystone Foods, which supplies McDonald's, Pizza Hut and others. "After lunch, he went for a swim and suffered a heart attack in the water. Three doctors in the boat could not revive him with CPR and a defibrillator."

Born in the rugged western Pennsylvania steel town of West Aliquippa, where his family was in the restaurant business, Mr. Pelino earned a bachelor's in 1953 from Duquesne University.

After graduation, he enlisted in the Air Force. He was stationed in Cape Cod, where he was smitten by the law after helping to prepare cases for the Judge Advocate General's Corps, part of the military court system.

Focused and determined to be a courtroom lawyer, Mr. Pelino earned a degree in 1959 from Dickinson School of Law, where he was first in his class and editor of the Law Review.

He hit the ground running in 1959 when he was hired by the large firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, where he earned $5,000 a year.

Not content to sit behind a desk, Mr. Pelino was a trial labor lawyer for many clients in the trucking and food industry during a combative era of labor relations in the 1960s.

He represented Gilbertson Coal Co. in a case with the United Mine Workers and real estate developer J. Leon Altemose who went head-to-head with labor unions.

"John's instincts in dealing with opponents was all elbows and knees, no quarter asked or taken," said Martin Lentz, who became his partner after Mr. Pelino left Schnader in 1968. He founded his own firm, Pelino & Lentz, with offices on the 32d floor of Liberty One.

"Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa described John as 'that tough Guinea from Philly,' " Lentz said.

Mr. Pelino was so passionate about his cases that he once carried a loaded gun into the courtroom while union picketers marched outside during the Altemose trial. "After John explained that it was for self defense and that he feared for his life, the judge asked him to kindly give him the gun," said Lotman. "Although distinguished and gracious, John was not your typical pin-stripped Philadelphia lawyer."

Mr. Pelino had a lifelong interest in fine food and had as clients, in addition to the behemoth Keystone Foods, Philadelphia culinary luminaries such as Georges Perrier, Neil Stein and Suzanna Foo.

As his firm grew, he added clients such as the Board of City Trusts, which runs Girard College, and the city board that controls Wills Eye Hospital. He also participated in mergers and acquisitions of large companies and litigated cases involving huge trusts and estates.

Mr. Pelino is survived by his wife of 25 years, Karen Budenz Pelino, a daughter, Clare; a son, Thomas John; two grandchildren; a brother; and his former wife, Margaret Faran.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. April 13 at the Union League, 140 S. Broad St.

Donations may be sent to Macula Vision Research Foundation, 300 Barr Harbor Dr., Suite 600, West Conshohocken, PA. 19428.