Epilogue

Chicago attorney Michael White Coffield, a co-founder of the Chicago chapter of American Inns of Court, died March 27 at his desk after luncheon with a former law partner. Age 67, he had a heart condition.

A 1967 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Coffield and his wife had taught English to Chinese children in Hong Kong for two years before he entered law school.

He began his legal career in 1967 with Kirkland & Ellis, then left seven years later to form a partnership with Richard Ungaretti that became Coffield, Ungaretti & Harris. In 1996, he opted for a solo practice.

Active in Inns of Court since 1988, Mr. Coffield was lead defense counsel in a 1990 mock trial in London of George Washington for treason. He received the Inns of Court's highest honor, the A. Sherman Christiansen Award in 1999.

A board member of the 7th Circuit Bar Association from 2000 to 2006, he received its Joel M. Flaum Award. He was named Person of the Year in 1999 by Chicago Lawyer magazine.

Mr. Coffield served on the board of the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and was a trial coach for a Coalition for Law Related Education Program in Chicago public schools. He was a past president of the Tavern Club.

Chicago attorney William Peter Caputo, an Arlington Heights resident, died March 22 at age 55 of a heart attack while vacationing with his family on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

A 1982 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Mr. Caputo taught high school history and English for 10 years prior to law school. He had a master's degree and doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University.

A partner in Nilson, Stookal, Gleason & Caputo in medical malpractice and products liability cases, he had practiced previously with Hinshaw & Culbertson and Altheimer & Gray.

Appointed to the District 23 school board in 1988 and subsequently elected, Mr. Caputo was its president. He also served on the board of the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization.

Retired attorney Robert Joseph Demichelis, formerly of Lake Forest and Highland Park, died Feb. 16 at age 75 in his Reston, Va., home. He was a 1958 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law.

Pittsfield attorney Lewis Matthews Grigsby Sr. died March 11 at age 85 at St. John's Hospital. A 1947 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, he was an Army Air Corps lieutenant and pilot in Brazil, Cuba, Africa and Italy during World War II.

Mr. Grigsby began his legal career in the Pittsfield office where his great-grandfather, Asa C. Matthews, had practiced. He was elected president of Farmers State Bank in 1965 and was board chair.

A member of the American College of Probate Counsel, he helped establish the Pike County Senior Citizens Center.

Former Fairbury attorney Ronald Neale Hanley died Feb. 24 at age 59 in Miami while vacationing. He had a law practice in Scottsdale, Ariz., and a real estate business in Mesa where he resided.

A 1971 graduate of the Arizona State University College of Law, Mr. Neale was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1972 and practiced with Hanley, Traube & Hanley before returning to Arizona.

Former Chicago attorney David I. Hoffman Sr. died March 21 at age 73 in Telluride, Colo., where he had moved in 1981. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1958 and practiced with Hoffman & Davis.

Mount Carroll attorney John A. Leemon died Feb. 28 at age 79 in a Ft. Myers, Fla., medical center. He was a 1952 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law.

Mr. Leemon practiced in Savanna for two years before joining Ralph Eaton's firm in Mount Carroll. He was a partner with J. Jerry Kane at the time of his death.

He served on the boards of the Mount Carroll Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and the First State Bank of Shannon.

Champaign attorney Arthur Marshall Lerner, a resident of Dewey, died March 31 at age 71 of Crohn's disease after three weeks at Carle Foundation Hospital. A memorial service will be held May 1 in the Champaign County Courthouse.

Born with cerebral palsy, Mr. Lerner graduated in 1959 from the University of Illinois College of Law and was a criminal defense attorney for many years before limiting his practice to family law.

He was active in the Tom Jones Challenger League, a baseball program for children with disabilities.

Survivors include two sons: Scott Alan Lerner of the Lerner Law Offices in Champaign, and Frederick Martin Lerner of Lerner & Wilhoite, Chicago.

Retired attorney Norman Clarence Lindahl of Springfield died March 2 at age 84 at St. John's Hospice. A veteran of Army service during World War II, he was a 1957 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.

Mr. Lindahl was an office manager for DuPont DeNemour & Co. in Lincolnwood and general counsel of the Wisconsin Investment Board. He retired from the Franklin Life Insurance Co. legal department in 1987.

Retired Chicago patent attorney Richard Burns Megley died March 22 at age 72 in Jacksonville, Fla. A 1962 graduate of the Boston College Law School, he started as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Mr. Megley joined the United Shoe Machinery Corp. and became its chief patent counsel before moving to the FMC Corp. and ending his career as a partner in Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro in Chicago.

Survivors include a son, Richard Burns Megley Jr. of the Niro, Scavone firm.

Lacon attorney Brian George Meierkord died Feb. 12 at age 53 in his home. A 1981 graduate of the Pepperdine University School of Law, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1981.

Mr. Meierkord was a workers' compensation lawyer in the Warren Danz Law Offices in Peoria before opening his own practice there. He relocated to Lacon in 1988.

He was Marshall County public guardian and public administrator from 1999 to 2006 and a special assistant Illinois attorney general.

Retired Chicago attorney Erwin M. Pearl, a resident of Chevy Chase, Md., died Jan, 22 at age 94. A 1936 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he practiced in Chicago for 65 years before relocating to Washington, D.C.

Mr. Pearl represented the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on a pro bono basis.

Homer Seymour Pringle, retired attorney for Underwriters Labs in Northbrook, died in April at age 76 of cancer in his Wilmette home. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1981 and was a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel.

Retired Chicago attorney George Hyde Redding Jr. died Feb. 14 at age 85 of congestive heart failure in his Winnetka home. He was a 1948 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law.

Mr. Redding was a Navy officer in the Pacific during World War II, earning eight battle stars, the Philippine Liberation Medal and two Bronze Stars. He returned to duty as a lieutenant commander during the Korean War.

Joining McDermott, Will & Emery after military service, Mr. Redding later was a partner in Norman, Englehardt, Zimmerman, Franke & Lauritzen. From 1967 to 1979, he was executive vice president of N. Marshall Seeburg & Sons.

He was president of Great Lakes Chemical Co, of Chicago for five years before forming Abell & Redding in Wilmette, where he had been village attorney from 1955 to 1965. He also was a Winnetka village trustee.

An emeritus trustee of Washington & Jefferson College, Mr. Redding received an honorary doctor of law degree in 1988.

Retired Flora attorney Paul T. Riggle died Feb. 27 at age 95 in the Flora Healthcare Center. A 1936 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, he served in the Army Infantry in Germany and Austria during World War II.

Mr. Riggle opened a solo practice in 1936 and in 1941 became a partner in Smith, Collum & Riggle. He retired in 1981. He was a founding member of the Flora Elks Lodge and an active member of the Clay County Genealogical Society.

Survivors include a son, David A. Riggle of Evanston, a partner in Riggle & Craven, Chicago.

Former Chicago attorney Stephen Mark Ritz died Feb. 13 at age 44 of respiratory failure, a complication from childhood cancer. He was a 1990 honors graduate of the Indiana University Law School.

Mr. Ritz practiced with Chapman and Cutler before becoming legal counsel and chief financial officer of the public relations firm of Ritz Communications. He was former president of Newport Pension Management.

He was a past president of the Northwestern Club of Indianapolis and the Indiana Association of Financial Planners.

Retired Chicago attorney and Cook County associate judge Norman Sands (formerly Schwartz) died March 27 at age 77. A veteran of service during the Korean War, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1957.

A resident of Scottsdale, Ariz., Mr. Sands previously lived in Chicago and Park Forest.

Glencoe real estate attorney Stanton Schuman drowned March 11 at age 92 after a canoe accident in the Skokie Lagoons. A 1939 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, he served in the Army in Europe during World War II.

Formerly of counsel to Miller, Shakman, Hamilton, Kurtzon & Schlifke in Chicago, he served on the Chicago Bar Association Board of Managers and chaired its Real Property Committee and Legislative Committee.

Mr. Schuman was president of the Glencoe Park District, a founder of Am Shalom Temple and a scoutmaster for more than 25 years. Founder of the Glencoe Patriotic Days Committee, he organized Memorial Day and Fourth of July celebrations for 60 years.

Retired Chicago attorney Chester W. Smigiel, a Glenview resident and board chair of Liberty Bank for Savings for almost 50 years, died Feb. 12 at age 89 of Alzheimer's disease in Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge.

A 1952 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Mr. Smigiel joined Liberty as bank attorney and became chief executive officer in 1958. He had served in the Army in Burma and China during World War II.

A director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago for three terms, he was a past president of the Polish American Savings and Loan League.

South Barrington attorney Dennis Gerald Taheny died Jan. 14 at age 61 in his home. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1971.

Retired Springfield attorney Duane Lawrence Traynor died Jan. 26 at age 96 in a Roswell, Ga., hospital. He was a resident of Devils Lake, N.D.

A graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law who was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1946, Mr. Traynor practiced in Minneapolis before joining the FBI as a special agent in charge in several cities.

He was a partner in the Springfield firm of Traynor & Hendricks for several years and a member of the Illinois State Police Merit Board from 1949 to 1975.

Retired Havana attorney and judge Howard Smith White died March 10 at age 91 in his home. A 1940 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, he served in the Army during World War II and received the Purple Heart.

Mr. White was a law partner of Guy R. Williams from 1946 until he was appointed to the 8th Circuit Court in 1979. He retired in 1986 and resumed a law practice.

National legal counsel and board member of the Izaak Walton League for many years, he was a past national and state president.

Survivors include a son, Robert S. White of Costigan & Wollrab, Bloomington.

Retired Chicago attorney Edward Churchill Wilson, a resident of LaGrange Park, died Feb. 25 at age 66. An advertising executive with Kenyon & Eckhardt for several years, he received a law degree in 1978 from Lewis University (now Northern Illinois University College of Law).

Mr. Wilson practiced with Conklin & Adler for several years before starting a practice in aviation law. In retirement he sang in the Downers Grove Choral Society, Lewis University Choral Group and West Suburban Symphony and Choral Group.

Retired corporate attorney Arthur McIntosh Wright died Feb. 27 at age 76 in his home in Santa Fe, N.M. A 1956 graduate of Harvard Law School, he had served in the Army.

Mr. Wright practiced in Kansas City and Chicago before joining Illinois Tool Works in Glenview and becoming senior vice president and general counsel. He moved to New Mexico 17 years ago.