Epilogue

Retired Chicago patent attorney and former state legislator Ralph Edwin Church Jr., died June 6 at age 86 in his Vero Beach, Fla., residence. He had lived in Evanston until 1982.

A 1948 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, Mr. Church served as a Navy lieutenant during World War II and designed submarines as a naval architect. He was senior partner in Neuman, Williams, Anderson & Olson before retirement.

An avid yachtsman and fisherman, he won first prizes twice in the Moorings Yacht Club Christmas boat parade. He served on the Moorings Property Owners Association board and was a past president of the North Passage Condo Association.

Mr. Church was the son of attorney and Congressman Ralph Edwin Church and Congresswoman Marguerite Stitt Church.

Retired Chicago attorney Lawrence Arthur (Preuss), a former Elmhurst resident, died in June at age 64. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1978 and at one time practiced with Bell, Boyd & Lloyd.

Retired Chicago attorney Bernard M. Berks, a Northbrook resident, died in June at age 86. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1947.

Retired Chicago patent attorney M. Russell Bramwell, a Palatine resident, died May 12 at age 83. A 1951 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, he participated in six Navy invasions in the southwest Pacific during World War II.

Morrison attorney William Allan Burch died July 1 at age 58. A 1975 graduate of the Washington University Law School, he was a partner in Ludens, Potter, Burch & Melton.

Retired Chicago attorney and certified public accountant Leon Joseph DeBiase died June 7 at age 68. He represented the Vienna Food Co. for more than 25 years before his 2004 retirement.

A 1973 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, Mr. DeBiase had master's degrees in finance from Northwestern University and in taxation from The John Marshall Law School.

Olympia Fields attorney Earl Shriver Ebers Jr., formerly of Flossmoor and Blue Island, died June 25 in Ingalls Hospital at age 77. A 1956 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he served in the Air Force.

Mr. Ebers was a founding member of the Chicago firm of Ebers, Metskas, Bjorvil & Kyros and former Blue Island city attorney and police magistrate.

A bowling tournament competitor who once rolled a 300 game, he was a South Suburban Bar Association pro bono volunteer.

Retired Chicago attorney Marcia Hope Zeidman Fischer, a former assistant Illinois attorney general, died in June. She was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1969.

Retired Chicago environmental attorney Janice S. Moran Loughlin died June 17 at age 62 of gall bladder cancer in her Evanston home.

A 1981 graduate of night classes at the Loyola University School of Law, Mrs. Loughlin was Multi-Media Section chief for the office of regional counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she had practiced for two decades.

She was honored earlier this year for her service on the Evanston Environmental Board.

Chicago attorney John A. Lewis of the Law Offices of Stephen I. Haszto died June 29 at age 62. A former Chicago Heights police detective who was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1985, he represented Safeco Insurance Co.

Retired 12th Circuit associate judge Michael Harold Lyons of Joliet died June 14 at age 90 in the Joliet Area Community Hospice. A 1939 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he was an Army Counter Intelligence Corps officer during World War II in Korea and Japan.

A partner for 30 years in the Chicago firm of Bailey & Lyons, he Mr. Lyons was a judge from 1975 to 1995 and was honored by the Will County Bar Association.

Survivors include a son, Denver trial lawyer James Lyons.

Former Canton attorney James H. Malmgren died May 7 at age 60 at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., where he taught high school English. He was a 1978 graduate of The John Marshall Law School.

Mr. Malmgren served in the Air Force as a forward air controller for two years during the Vietnam War, and a staff sergeant in a security police squadron for two additional years.

Joining the Canton practice of his father, William H. Malmgren, in 1977, he was city attorney from 1981 to 1991. He taught English at Canton High School until he moved to Arizona in 2000.

Loren Charles Marsh of Bloomington, who practiced in Muncie, Ind., for 45 years, died May 23 at age 85 in the ASTA Care Center. He was a graduate of the Indiana University Law School and a veteran of Army service in the Pacific during World War II.

Former Chicago attorney John Henry Moore IV died June 3 at age 42 of injuries after his car hit a concrete median near his South Loop home. A 1996 graduate of the Columbia University Law School, he was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2003.

Mr. Moore practiced with Kirkland & Ellis in New York City before relocating to Chicago. Formerly with Navigant, he was a consultant to the technology outsourcing firm of Capgemini.

Retired Chicago banking executive Harold Patrick O'Connell Jr. died June 26 at age 73 in Glenbrook Hospital. A 1958 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, he was the son of attorney Harold Patrick O'Connell.

Mr. O'Connell was an officer of the Continental Illinois National Bank and the Northern Trust Co. He was past president of the Terra Museum and the Better Government Association, and a trustee of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Retired Pekin attorney Bernard Louis Oltman died June 5 at age 81 in OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Peoria. A 1957 graduate of the Drake University Law School, he was an Army lieutenant during World War II and the Korean War.

Mr. Oltman was a police magistrate from 1959 until 1962, when he was appointed as a circuit court magistrate. He was Tazewell County state's attorney from 1964 to 1972 and Pekin city attorney under four mayors.

A special assistant Illinois attorney general for the Departments of Transportation and Conservation, he was a past president of the Pekin Boys' Club and a recipient of a Boys' Club Medallion.

Retired Chicago attorney and philanthropist Sidney Lawrence Port died June 11 at age 96 at the Warren Barr Pavilion, where he was convalescing from a broken hip.

A 1936 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Mr. Port was executive vice president of Lion Auto Parts when he founded Lawson Products, a DesPlaines industrial repair and maintenance parts firm in 1952.

His success in business allowed him to contribute about $5 million to the University of Illinois-Chicago, to underwrite 19 Lyric Opera productions, and to become a major donor to The Art Institute of Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, Mt. Sinai Hospital and the Gastro-Intestinal Research Foundation at the University of Chicago.

Retired Carbondale attorney Robert W. Schwartz died June 2 at age 91. After service as an Army lieutenant during World War II in Guadalcanal, he graduated from the University of Alabama Law School and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1949.

A lawyer in Carbondale for many years, Mr. Schwartz was a police magistrate and later a Jackson County Court judge for several years.

Chicago attorney David Edward Springer, a partner in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom since 1986, died June 19 at age 55 of cancer in his Andersonville home. A 1977 graduate of the Yale University Law School, he practiced previously with Kirkland & Ellis.

Openly gay and HIV-positive for several years, Mr. Springer performed pro bono work for Lambda Legal.

Crystal Lake attorney Robert Albert Wilbrandt Sr. died June 10 at age 90 of a heart attack at Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry.

A 1942 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Mr. Wilbrandt was a law professor in St. Paul, Minn., before joining Marshall Field and Co. in 1944 as a corporate attorney. During weekends, he had local clients in probate and real estate matters.

After retiring from the department store chain in 1977 as senior attorney and assistant secretary, he opened a practice in Crystal Lake with a son, Robert A. Wilbrandt Jr., who is now a 22nd Circuit associate judge. Another son, Laurence A. Wilbrandt, has been a partner since 1986.

During his 16 years on the Crystal Lake Community Dist. 155 school board, Mr. Wilbrandt was president for six years. He contributed pro bono legal work for the school, and served on the Algonquin Bank board for 15 years.

He was past board chair of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and past commander of the American Legion post in Crystal Lake.

East St. Louis attorney Richard George Younge died June 6 at age 82 in Medina, Ohio, after suffering several strokes. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1954 and practiced there for 40 years.

Survivors include his wife, State Rep. Wyvetter H. Younge of East St. Louis, a graduate of the St. Louis University Law School who is admitted in Missouri.