Epilogue

Chicago attorney Robert William Bergstrom, an ardent supporter of a better system of selecting judges, died June 4 at age 87 of esophageal cancer in Northwestern Memorial Hospital. (See Hearsay on page 4.)

A 1940 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Mr. Bergstrom promptly joined the Navy as an intelligence officer in the Pacific Theater under Adm. Chester Nimitz.

He started a law practice in 1945 and received a master's degree in business administration in 1947 from the University of Chicago. He was counsel to a special state legislative committee that investigated corruption in the Metropolitan Sanitary District in the 1960s.

During the Illinois Constitutional Con-vention in 1969 and 1970, Mr. Bergstrom volunteered as an adviser to delegates assigned to modernize the Constitution, and became an advocate for appointment of the judiciary on merit instead of by election.

An active participant in civic betterment initiatives of the Union League Club of Chicago, he served as president in 1971 and received its Distinguished Public Service Award in 1981.

Mr. Bergstrom had several clients in the entertainment industry. Among them were the BeeGees, a musical group that was sued for plagiarism over a song used in “Saturday Night Fever.” He was given a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame by the Motion Picture Association on his 75th birthday.

Research he compiled in defending Twentieth Century Fox for the film, “Compulsion,” was donated to the New-berry Library in 1999. It included transcripts of Clarence Darrow's successful arguments against capital punishment in the murder trial of Leopold and Loeb.

Mr. Bergstrom served on the ISBA Antitrust Law Section Council from 1962 to 1971. He was a past president of the Glenview Village Caucus and a board member of the Sarah Siddons Society.

He was the author of “The Continuing Effort to Create Nonpartisan Judiciaries in the State Courts,” a summary of 30 years of study that was published in 2001 by the American Judicature Society.

Retired Chicago attorney Joseph I. Adler, a resident of West Falmouth, Mass., died in June at age 84. A 1948 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School after service in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he was once a partner in Fishleder, Adler & Adler.

Retired attorney Sam Alschuler, the last resident of a pioneer Aurora family, died July 2 at age 93. A 1935 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, he practiced more than 60 years before his retirement 15 years ago.

The son of Benjamin P. Alschuler and nephew of an elder Sam Alschuler, he joined Alschuler, Funkey, Loats & Palmer after law school. His brother, Jacob Alschuler, and nephew, Benjamin Alschuler, were also with the firm, which was founded in 1879.

A veteran of Army service, Sam Alschuler was former corporation counsel for the City of Aurora. He was a past president of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the Easter Seal Rehabilitation Center.

Survivors include a son, Prof. Albert W. Alschuler of the University of Chicago Law School.

Retired Chicago attorney Paul L. Bolton, a resident of Lombard, died March 18 at age 67. A 1964 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he was a trust attorney for First National Bank of Chicago. In retirement he volunteered in addiction wards at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Retired Chicago attorney Theodore David Bower, a tax attorney at Sears Roebuck for more than 32 years, died in June at age 79 in Rochester, Minn. A Winnetka resident, he was a 1957 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.

Harry Joseph Brady of McHenry, the first justice of the peace in Lakemoor, died July 4 at age 90 of kidney failure in the Alden Terrace nursing home. He served from 1957 until judicial reform eliminated the office in 1964.

“My dad wasn't a great legal mind,” said his son, retired 19th Circuit associate judge Terrence J. Brady, a member of the ISBA Assembly, “but he had a great common-sense approach and barnyard justice.”

Former Waukegan attorney and assistant Lake County public defender Barbra R. Cahn died in June. She was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1990, and was public defender for Richmond County in Augusta, Ga., at the time of her death.

Retired Chicago attorney John C. Castanes died in June at age 80. A 1951 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, he was a veteran of military service during World War II. Survivors include a son, Theodore J. Castanes of Kavathas & Castanes, Chicago.

John W. Deaver of West Chicago, a member of the Missouri bar who was a litigation attorney at CNA Insurance in Chicago, died July 3 at age 53 in his home after cancer surgery.

A graduate of the Washington Universiry Law School, Mr. Deaver practiced in St. Louis as a freelance legal auditor until he relocated to Chicago two years ago.

The author of several short stories and a mystery novel, “Stormwater Hook,” he performed in four musicals at Steel Beam Theater in St. Charles.

Chicago attorney John Chauncey De-Wolfe Jr., a former partner in DeWolfe, Poynton & Stevens, died in June at age 93. A 1939 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1940.

A past trustee of the Village of Riverside, Mr. DeWolfe served in the Army in both World War II and the Korean war.

He was the son of John C. DeWolfe, a founding partner in DeWolfe, Mills & Markley, and the father of John C. DeWolfe III and George F. DeWolfe, both of whom preceded him in death.

Retired Lawrenceville attorney Maurice Ellsworth Gosnell died May 25 at age 95 in Deaconess Hospital, Evansville, Ind. He was of counsel to Gosnell, Borden, Enloe & Sloss.

A 1934 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Mr. Gosnell served on the ISBA Board of Governors from 1959 to 1965 and was a Charter Fellow and Silver Fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation.

During his 60 years of practice, he was a partner in Tohill & Gosnell, Huffman & Gosnell, Gosnell & Cain, Gosnell & Fitzpatrick, and Gosnell & Benecki. He established Tohill & Gosnell Abstracts of Title in 1937.

Lawrence County state's attorney from 1940 to 1948, Mr. Gosnell was a U.S. magistrate judge from 1971 to 1975. He served as city attorney for Lawrenceville three times for a total of 16 years, and also for Bridgeport and Sumner.

He was president of the elementary school board for 21 years, a member of the library board for 36 years and the hospital board for five years. He served on the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission and the Vincennes University board of trustees.

Mr. Gosnell was a member of the Illinois Air Pollution Control Board, the state Board of Aeronautical Advisors, and the Supreme Court Committee on Court-Annexed Arbitration. He was a past president of the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association.

He chaired the boards of Lawrenceville National Bank and Trust, Bridgeport Building and Loan, and First Federal Savings and Loan of Vincennes, Ind.

Retired patent attorney Jack Roger Halvorsen, a resident of Lake Barrington Shores, died June 7 after a stroke at age 82 in Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington.

After receiving a degree in chemical engineering, he served in the Navy during World War II before entering the Northwestern University School of Law. He was recalled during the Korean War and graduated in 1950.

Mr. Halvorsen was an attorney with Illinois Tool Works for 40 years before joining the Chicago firm of Laff, Whitesel, Conte & Saret in a part-time capacity. He was a past president of the Intellectual Property Law Association.

A member of the Swedish Glee Club for 54 years, Mr. Halvorsen served on the River Trails School Board in Mt. Prospect.

Retired Colorado attorney William K. Hickey, a resident of Warrenville, died June 18 at age 80. A 1966 graduate of the University of Denver Law School, he was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1970 to 1974 and an appellate judge before relocating to Illinois.

Survivors include a stepson, William A. Von Hoene Jr., senior vice president and deputy general of the Exelon Corp., and his wife, Nikki M. Zollar, an attorney and president of Triad Consulting Services, Chicago.

Retired 2nd Circuit judge Robert Seymour Hill died June 9 at age 82 in the Severin Intermediate Care Home in Benton. He was a 1949 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and past president of its alumni association.

An Army staff sergeant in Europe during World War II, Mr. Hill was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman's Badge.

After graduation, he was deputy attorney general to Ivan A. Elliot in Chicago before returning to practice in Benton. City attorney from 1958 to 1966, he was elected to the bench in 1976.

Editor of Trial Briefs, the newsletter of the ISBA Civil Practice and Procedure Section from 1963 to 1977, Mr. Hill was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

He was a president of the Benton Public Library board for 16 years, past president of the Benton Rotary Club, and an exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge.

Rolling Meadows attorney Ronald Marc Lake died April 27 at age 57. A 1973 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, he was a partner in Picklin & Lake and a founder of Republic Title Co.

Retired 14th Circuit judge Ivan Paul Lovaas died May 30 at age 81 in the Hospice of Larimer County Health Care Center, Loveland, Colo. A graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota after Marine Corps service, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1953.

Mr. Lovaas was a suburban Chicago attorney before moving to Sterling and practicing with Kenneth Miller. He was appointed to the bench in 1966 and retired in 1987.

Retired Chicago attorney Joseph P. O'Halloran, a resident of Cary, died in July at age 77. Former chief patent counsel for Quaker Oats, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1967.

Chicago attorney Max Pastin died in June at age 79 of lung cancer. A 1956 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he was president of the not-for-profit Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation.

Charles Francis Pigott of Northbrook, a 1958 graduate of Harvard Law School, died June 2 at age 76 of heart failure in his home. He had bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering.

In 1967, Mr. Pigott received the Robert C. Watson Award from the American Intellectual Property Law Association for his article, “Equivalence in Reverse,” that analyzed intellectual property rights in modern world trade.

Retired Joliet attorney Louis Vincent Pistilli died April 26 at age 79 in his home. A 1957 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, he had master's degrees in education and psychology from DePaul University.

After Army service in the Pacific during World War II, Mr. Pistilli was band director and superintendent of Rockdale School. He was an assistant public defender and law partner for several years with a brother, former 12th District judge Angelo Fred Pistilli.

Louis Pistilli served on the Will County Board of Supervisors and the board of advisors of Accelerated Instruction Methods Corp., and was a psychologist for the Illinois Youth Commission.

Retired Chicago attorney Sima Ziblat Savin died June 11 at age 93 in St. Paul, Minn. She was a legal secretary at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, where she met her husband, Bernard Savin, and was encouraged to study law in night classes.

A 1938 honors graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she was the only woman in her class, she worked for the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

Later, she was a claims deputy for the Illinois Division of Unemployment Compensation and an executive editor for Commerce Clearinghouse.

Retired 7th Circuit associate judge Philip E. Schickedanz, formerly of Springfield, died June 17 at age 59 in his Chatham home.

Admitted to the Illinois bar in 1972, Mr. Schickedanz served on the bench from 1984 to 1990 and was a pro bono volunteer with the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation.

Belleville attorney Ralph Trendley Stenger died May 21 at age 67 in his home. A 1964 graduate of the St. Louis University School of Law, he practiced with two firms before forming Bock & Stenger. In 1978 he established the Law Offices of Ralph T. Stenger.

Among the charitable organizations Mr. Stenger assisted was the Southern Illinois Charitable Giving Council. He was a founder of the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys and was legal counsel to St. Clair Vocational Enterprises for 35 years.

Glenview attorney Robert Lawrence Suomala died July 4 at age 50. Admitted to the Illinois bar in 1983, he practiced with Jones, Lemon, Graham & Clancy.

Alvin J. Ufkes, formerly of Carthage and Quincy, died May 20 at age 81 in a California hospital. He was a resident of Anaheim Hills.

A 1951 graduate of the Washington University Law School, he was an Army military policeman during World War II and a member of President Truman's honor guard at the Potsdam Conference.

A former Adams County state's attorney, Mr. Ufkes moved to Orange County, Calif., 44 years ago.

Arthur MacDougal Wood of Lake Forest, former chief executive of Sears, Roebuck and Co., died June 18 at age 93 of pneumonia in his home. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he was a 1937 graduate of Harvard Law School.

Mr. Wood joined the Sears legal division in 1946 after service as an Army lieutenant colonel during World War II. He served in several company offices around the country before being named president in 1968. He was board chair when he retired in 1978.