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Obituaries

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Thomas G. West 1940-2011

    Prominent attorney Thomas G. West, 71, was born in Galesburg on March 21, 1940, the son of Helen Jo (Bondi) and Joseph E. West, and died in Northfield, Minn., on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.

    He was a 1958 graduate of Galesburg High School, a graduate of Northwestern University, BBA, 1962, and University of Chicago Law, JD, 1965. He taught business law at Wisconsin State University, Whitewater, Wis., from 1965-66. He served as assistant state's attorney for Knox County from 1966-67 and Illinois assistant attorney general - condemnation 1968-76.

    Tom gave freely of his time to the greater Galesburg community. In addition to his association with Simpson Law Office, he served as vice president of Bondi Building Corporation.

    Among other activities and local interests, Tom was past president of Soangetaha Country Club and a member of its Hole-in-One Club. He was past chairman of OSF St.Mary Medical Center Board of Directors and served as a board member of OSF St. Mary Medical Center Foundation. Tom was serving on the IFMC-IL advisory board. From 1971-75, Tom served on the board of trustees for Carl Sandburg College and in 2007 was the recipient of its Founder's Circle Award. He served as attorney for Galesburg District 205 and Knoxville District 202 school boards. Tom was past president and treasurer of Temple Sholom board of directors.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Hartzell Givens 1912-2011

    Hartzell Givens, 99, of Taylorville, IL died at 3:00 am Friday, December 2, 2011 at Taylorville Care Center.

    He was born November 29, 1912 in Heyworth, IL the son of John P. and Rosa L. Hawthorne Givens. His mother was a cousin of the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne. On June 16, 1940 he married Louise D. Dunbar in Taylorville and she preceded him in death on January 11, 1999.

    Hartzell graduated from Eureka College in 1936, and on the 75th anniversary of his graduation he was the oldest living graduate of Eureka College. He then went to Loyola University where he graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 1939. Hartzell had the rare distinction among lawyers of having been one of the few that never lost a case. Hartzell specialized in Abstracting and Title work and went to work for Chicago Title Company in Chicago after graduation. He came to Taylorville in January 1946 and worked at the Taylor Abstracting Co. His association with Chicago Title and Trust lasted for 75 years.

    Hartzell was a veteran of World War II serving with the Navy in the Seabees. One of his assignments was in the Marshall Islands and he was present at Tinian when the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima. The Taylorville Chamber of Commerce awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Royce Glenn Rowe Jr. 1926-2011

    Royce Glenn Rowe Jr., 85, died of lung cancer Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter in Skokie. The longtime Wilmette resident was a retired founding partner of the downtown law firm of McKenna, Storer, Rowe, White & Farrug.

    Mr. Rowe co-founded the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel in Chicago in the mid-1960s to fill a void in the legal community.

    Born in Chicago, Mr. Rowe grew up in Wilmette and graduated in 1944 from Shattuck, a military boarding school in Minnesota. He joined the Navy near the end of World War II, serving for two years at bases in California and Virginia.

    After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in history in 1950, Mr. Rowe attended Cornell Law School, receiving his law degree in 1952.

    Mr. Rowe worked as a government lawyer for a short time in Washington, until moving to Chicago in the early 1950s, where he helped form the law firm.

    Mr. Rowe retired from the firm in 1992, after 40 years.

    In 1978, Mr. Rowe was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.

    Mr. Rowe's wife, Kathryn, died in 1998.

    He is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth Neary, Sarah Rowe and Katrina Sullivan; a sister, Mary Robertson; and five grandchildren.

    No services were held, as was Mr. Rowe's desire.

  • December 20, 2011 | People
    Hon. John Schwartz 1925-2011

    Retired Judge John Schwartz changed the image of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he was chief judge from 1987 to 1998.

    Judge Schwartz, 86, died of natural causes Monday, Nov. 28, while in rehabilitation in Imperial Grove Pavilion in Chicago, said his daughter Nora York. He was a longtime resident of Chicago, where he grew up.

    He attended University of Chicago schools from nursery school to law school. He interrupted his studies in 1943 to serve in the Army Air Forces.

    He resumed his studies in 1945 and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1950, then worked as an assistant U.S. attorney before going into private practice in 1954.

    Judge Schwartz was appointed to the Bankruptcy Court in 1984. He found it wasn't a very happy place and set about looking for ways to improve things, Black said.

    Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune

  • December 13, 2011 | People
    Robert P. Cahill 1936-2011

    Robert Phillip Cahill, a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, died peacefully surrounded by family and friends Dec. 4, 2011 at age 75.

    Justice Cahill was born in 1936. He was educated at St. Louis University, Loyola University of Chicago and Loyola University of Law, earning his J.D. degree in 1966. He began his legal career as a statutory draftsman with the Legislative Reference Bureau in Springfield, then moved to the Illinois Senate where he served as legal counsel to the Education Committee and then Chief of Staff for the Illinois Senate. From 1973 to 1980, he was an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County and chief of special litigation in that office. From 1974 to 1978 he served as an elected member of the Board of Education of District 65 in Evanston.

  • December 12, 2011 | People
    Richard W. Paterson 1927-2011
    Richard W. Paterson, 84, of Champaign passed away Dec. 10, 2011, surrounded by his wife and children. 

    He was born Jan. 25, 1927, in Champaign to Harold and Dolly (Webb) Paterson. He attended Champaign schools, graduating from Champaign High in 1945. After serving in the Army, he returned to Champaign to earn a law degree from the University of Illinois. He was an attorney in the community for 52 years.

    Richard is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marietta Ripley Paterson, and his sister, Bonnie McLauthlin of Denver, Colo. Richard and Marietta have three daughters, Nancy Strang (David), Mary Kaminsky (Lenny), and Martha Henss (Mark). Their beloved grandchildren are Emma and Jake Henss, Maggie Henss Jones, Tucker, Cameron and Shelby Strang, and Bonnie and Lauren Kaminsky. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Norman Paterson.

  • December 8, 2011 | People
    Edward G. Vogt 1931-2011

    Edward G. Vogt, 79, of Kankakee, died on Monday, Nov. 14.

    Mr. Vogt was an attorney. He was born Nov. 16, 1931, in Chicago, the son of Edmund Wisnewski and Margaret Rychloch Vogt. He was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Loyola Law School. He practiced law in Kankakee for 40 years, during which time he tried more than 100 jury trials.

    In retirement he substituted in local high schools and was known as "Mr. V." His hobbies were singing, railroading and recitation of Shakespeare. He was an avid tennis player and bridge enthusiast. Ed was an environmentalist and was a volunteer legal counsel for preventing the garbage dump in Kankakee. He loved his home and yard work. Ed read historical novels, played Scrabble and loved a spirited debate on any issue.

    Surviving are his wife, the former Margaret Ann Shannon, of Kankakee, whom he married Nov. 29, 1959, in Evergreen Park; three sons and one daughter-in-law, Steven and Diane Vogt, of Evergreen Park, Bob Vogt, of Chicago, and John Vogt of Seattle, Wash.; five daughters and three sons-in-law, Katy and Paul Cirzan, of Ashland, Ore., Michelle and Heinz Schuller, of Oak Park, Mary Vogt, of Los Angeles, Calif., Anna Vogt and partner, Jennifer Mitchell, of Berkley, Calif., Shannon and Steven Smith, of Corvallis, Mont.; and seven grandchildren, Lexie, Rachel and Hailey Vogt, Teddy and Katy Schuller, Audrey Cirzan and Ronan Smith.

    He was preceded in death by his parents and stepfather, John Firpach.

  • December 8, 2011 | People
    Judith B. Petrucci 1941-2011

    Former Lyons Village President Judith Petrucci, known as the reformer who changed the bawdy reputation of the village, died on Sunday. She was 70.

    Petrucci was elected as president for one term in 1989 after winning a seat on the board in 1987. Prior to that, she gained a reputation for her fight to rid the village of its many strip clubs, which operated under the blind eye of village and police officials.

    Petrucci, who was a practicing attorney, again ran for office and won a seat on the District 103 school board.

    She was a graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Law and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, West Suburban Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association and the American Legion Auxiliary.

    She’s survived by a daughter, Gina Lynn (Gordon) Songer, and a sister, Sharon Chard.

  • December 8, 2011 | People
    Frank Kimball 1953-2011

    Frank Kimball, 58, died of an aortic dissection Friday, Oct. 28, in Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, according to his brother, who also is an attorney. He was a longtime resident of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

    Mr. Kimball grew up in California and was a 1974 graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles. He went on to law school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, graduating in 1977.

    Mr. Kimball came to Chicago in 1986 as a partner with McDermott, Will & Emery, where his practice included corporate and commercial litigation.

    For several years, he led the firm's hiring effort, both at law schools and in recruiting practicing lawyers. Around 1992, Mr. Kimball opened his own legal search and consulting firm, Kimball Professional Management.

    Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune

  • November 29, 2011 | People
    Brian C. Silverman 1943-2011

    Brian C. Silverman, 68, of Champaign passed away on Nov. 23, 2011 following a long illness.

    He was born in Chicago on Aug. 2, 1943, the son of Mary (Cutler) and Isadore Silverman.

    Brian graduated from DePaul University Law School. He became a Cook County assistant public defender, eventually serving as head of the Juvenile Division.

    In 1979, he moved to Champaign to become the first full-time public defender of Champaign County. After leaving the Public Defender's Office, Brian had a private practice specializing in criminal defense and family law.

    Brian loved the Champaign-Urbana community. He was generous in giving back to it through donations and public service, including providing free legal representation to people in need. He was also a longtime supporter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

    An active Republican, Brian served as a precinct committeeman and loved talking politics with anyone who was willing. He was a frequent guest on "Penny for your Thoughts."

    A lifelong sports fan, Brian bled Illini Orange and Blue and was always happy supporting Chicago's sports teams. His beloved Cubs often disappointed him, but he never lost his enthusiasm for every one of their games. He often joked that being a Cubs fan prepared him to be a public defender because he was used to losing.

    Despite his disabilities in later life, Brian was a model of courage and determination, continuing to be an active part of the legal community.

    Underneath his sometimes misunderstood exterior, at the end of the day his friends and family would tell you that his heart and loyalty were unparalleled.