Billionaire Thomas J. Flatley died at his Milton home early Saturday morning after a year of declining health. He was 76.
A native of County Mayo in Ireland, Mr. Flatley built a Fortune 500 real estate empire as a longtime South Shore resident. He lived in Randolph for several years in the late 1950s before he and his family moved to Milton in 1961.
Hard-driving, devoutly Roman Catholic and deeply patriotic to his adopted country, he made a $1.3 billion fortune building hotels, shopping centers and thousands of apartments from New England to Florida -- among them, the Sheraton Tara in Braintree and the Quincy Marriott.
Along the way, he quietly gave away millions to Catholic Charities, Boston College, Africa relief and Irish causes, as well as to local programs such as Father Bill's Place, Quincy's homeless shelter, and My Brother's Keeper in Easton. He was also a generous and anonymous benefactor of The Patriot Ledger's Lend A Hand program.
