Epilogue

Retired Harrisburg attorney Arlie O. Boswell Jr., who practiced patent law in Chicago and was a 1st Circuit judge for 17 years, died Feb. 11 at age 83 in Evansville, Ind.

The son of former Williamson County state's attorney Arlie O. Boswell, he served with the Army in Europe during World War II. He earned the Combat Infantry Badge with two Bronze Stars and two battle stars before mustering out as a second lieutenant in 1946 to enter law school.

A 1949 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Arlie Boswell Jr. practiced for a year in Harrisburg and was recalled during the Korean War as an assistant judge advocate at Fort Riley, Kan.

He practiced with his father in Southern Illinois before joining the Chicago firm of Hibben, Noyes & Bicknell in 1955. He returned to Harrisburg in 1975 and was appointed the next year as an associate judge and later as a circuit judge.

Mr. Boswell retired from the bench in 1993 but was recalled to serve for two months in 1994 after J. Phil Gilbert became a federal judge.

In retirement he handled agricultural law mediations for the Southern Illinois University School of Law Dispute Resolution Clinic and served on the Illinois Judges Association Retired Judges Committee.

Honored in 1999 as an ISBA Senior Counsellor, Mr. Boswell observed that too many laws were on the books. “We need to get rid of the laws that are arcane and ridiculous,” he said. “We used to get by with the Ten Commandments.”

He farmed in Saline County for many years and had a pilot's license with instrument rating. He was a former elder and deacon of First Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg.

Survivors include a son, Thomas H. Boswell of Hinshaw & Culbertson, Rockford; a daughter, Mary Jane Boswell of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Washington, D.C., and a nephew, Chicago attorney Monty S. Boatwright.

Alfred E. Woodward of Wheaton, whose 56-year legal career included 19 years in the judiciary and a term as president of the DuPage County Bar Association, died Feb. 20 at age 93 of congestive heart failure. He had lived in a nursing and rehabilitation center for six years.

A 1938 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, Mr. Woodward joined the Wheaton firm of Rathje & Woodward, where his brother, John Woodward, was a partner.

His career was interrupted in 1943 by Navy service in the South Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he was discharged as a lieutenant junior grade, returned to the law firm and was made a partner in 1950.

Mr. Woodward became a judge of the 18th Circuit in 1970, and was chief judge from 1973 to 1975. In 1977, he was appointed to the Illinois Appellate Court, 2nd District.

In 1981, he returned to private practice with Rathje, Woodward, Dyer & Burt, but was recalled to serve in the appellate court's Workers' Compensation Division from 1986 until his retirement in 1994.

“Few legal practitioners or judges … can lay claim to the reputation for honesty, integrity and legal expertise enjoyed by Judge Woodward,” his former law partner and appellate justice S. Louis Rathje wrote in the DuPage County Bar Brief in 1998.

Mr. Woodward was president of the DuPage County Bar in 1956-57, and he was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1967.

In 1988, he was elected to the athletic hall of fame at the Sandwich High School, where he had been captain of the football team, earning a college athletic scholarship.

Retired Rockford attorney Elizabeth F. Canfield, the only woman practitioner in Winnebago County for her first 25 years, died Dec. 28 at age 93 in New Orleans.

Mrs. Canfield studied pre-law at the LaSalle Law School in Chicago for four years, passing a required examination each year, before receiving an LL.B. degree and passing the Illinois bar exam for admission in 1950.

In addition to her Rockford practice with her husband, Robert R. Canfield, she was a special assistant Illinois attorney general for nine years in eminent domain cases.

Mr. Canfield died in 1994, and Mrs. Canfield closed the Canfield Law Office on Jan. 1, 1997, to be near her son, California attorney James Canfield. In 2004, she moved to New Orleans and survived Hurricane Katrina.

Mrs. Canfield was a past president of the Rockford League of Women Voters and Quota International of Rockford. She was elected to the school board and was a trustee of three retirement and convalescent homes.

Retired Chicago attorney Paul Ben Axelrood of Oak Park died Feb. 22 at age 52 after battling multiple sclerosis for several years. A 1979 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, he practiced immigration law until 1998.

Survivors include his father, Oak Park attorney Seymour C. Axelrood, and a cousin, Cook County Associate Judge Larry G. Axelrood.

Waukegan attorney John Howard Bickley Jr. of Long Grove, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, died Feb. 26 at age 77 of a respiratory infection in Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington Heights.

A 1952 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Mr. Bickley had a solo practice for many years and also was a partner in the Chicago firm of Bickley & Bickley with his son, John H. Bickley III, from 1983 to 1992.

He served in the Marine Corps and remained active in the reserves until he retired in 1989 as a lieutenant colonel. His son is now with the Buffalo Grove firm of Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit.

Retired Chicago attorney Narcisse A. Brown, formerly of Flossmoor, died March 9 at age 87. A 1950 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, he was a former partner in Schwartz, Cooper, Kolb & Gaynor.

An Army captain and “hump pilot” during World War II, Mr. Brown built and flew his own aircraft.

Retired Chicago attorney Philip Vinton Carter, a former partner in Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, died Feb. 28 at age 84. He was a 1949 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law and veteran of Army service during World War II.

Former president of the Central DuPage Hospital board and a life governor, Mr. Carter served on the boards of DePaul, Goodwill Industries and Literacy Volunteers of America.

Retired Urbana attorney Glen Ernest Chapman died Jan. 28 at age 99 in the Champaign County Nursing Home. A 1932 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, he served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II.

Mr. Chapman was mayor of Urbana from 1949 to 1957. He retired from practice in 1985.

Edwardsville attorney Morris B. Chapman, formerly of Granite City, died Feb. 18 at age 87 of prostate cancer. A 1942 graduate of the Southern Illinois University Law School, he was a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates.

A civil rights activist, Mr. Chapman did volunteer work in Mississippi in the 1960s and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chic ago in 1966. He also served for his Baha'i faith in Guatemala and Trinidad.

Survivors include a daughter, Appellate Justice Melissa A. Chapman of the 5th District in Glen Carbon.

Joliet attorney Barbara Ann Clemens died Feb. 20 at age 66 in her home. She was president of the Will County Bar Association in 1995-96.

A 1983 graduate of the Northern Illinois University College of Law., Mrs. Clemens was a partner in Schenk, Duffy, Carey, Ford, Mazzone, Phelan & Clemens. A breast cancer survivor, she served on the board of the Joliet Area Community Hospice.

Carlinville attorney Walter William Denby died Feb. 24 at age 75 in his home. A 1960 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, he was a founder and senior partner of Denby, Meno, Bloomer & Denby.

Mr. Denby served in the Air Force from 1953 to 1956 and retired from the Illinois Air National Guard in 1960 as a captain.

He was a past president of the Carlinville Rotary Club and the Carlinville Area Hospital Mid-Mac Foundation, and an executive board member of the Abraham Lincoln Council of Boy Scouts of America. He received the Silver Beaver Award.

Survivors include a son and law partner, Thomas Day Denby.

Cook County Associate Judge James G. Donegan died March 4 at age 78. A 1957 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he had served in the Army from 1952 to 1954.

Mr. Donegan was an attorney with the Cook County public administrator's office from 1957 to 1959, with Abrams & Linn from 1959 to 1961, and an assistant Chicago corporation counsel from 1961 to 1966.

After five subsequent years in private practice, he was a partner in Ryan, Condon & Livingston from 1971 until his appointment to the bench in 1981. He sat in the 1st and 2nd Municipal Districts, and had been in the Domestic Relations Division since 1987.

Mr. Donegan was past president of the Old Town Triangle Association and former chair of the Lincoln Park Community Conservation Council. He was Celtic Legal Society Man of the Year in 1994.

Retired attorney Howard O. Edmonds died Feb. 26 at age 72. He was a 1961 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law.

Senior Judge Thomas E. Fairchild of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit died Feb. 12 at age 94 in Madison, Wis. He was a 1938 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Mr. Fairchild was Wisconsin attorney general from 1948 until 1951, when he served as U.S. attorney for a year. He was elected in 1956 to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where his father, Edward T. Fairchild, had been chief justice.

Appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1966, he was chief judge from 1975 until 1981, when he took senior status.

Mr. Fairchild had honorary degrees from The John Marshall Law School, University of Wisconsin, St. Norbert College and Carthage College. He received a Professional Award in 1999 from American Inns of Court.

Chicago attorney Paul Erving Garfinkel died Feb. 24 at age 52 of an apparent heart attack in his Hoffman Estates home. He was a 1981 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law.

A partner in Kopka, Pinkus, Dolin & Eads, Mr. Garfinkel practiced in workers' compensation.

C. Richard Gibson, former associate director of the Chicago-Kent College of Law Legal Information Center and Library of International Relations, died Dec. 7 at age 49. He was a graduate of the George Mason University Law School.

Mr. Gibson previously was associate director of the Nova Southeastern University Law Library and acting chief law librarian at George Mason. He had a master's degree in library science from the University of Maryland.

He sang with the Windy City Chorus, and catalogued and computerized the Windy City Performing Arts music collection.

Retired Chicago attorney Robert James Gorman died Feb. 17 at age 91 in his home. He attended the Chicago-Kent College of Law while working nights during the Depression, and graduated in 1940.

Mr. Gorman served in the Army during World War II, participating in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and the liberation of Paris, and was discharged as a first lieutenant.

In 1945, he became the first attorney for the new Roosevelt University and served until he retired in the 1980s. He also represented conscientious objectors during the Vietnam conflict and did volunteer work for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Survivors include a son and law partner, Gregory X. Gorman, and a daughter, Chicago attorney H. Candace Gorman, a past president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois.

Chicago George Jerome Hennig died Dec. 24 at age 63 of diabetes. A 1968 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, he was a partner in Bernard A. Hennig & Associates with his father, Bernard A. Hennig Sr., and brother, Bernard A. Hennig Jr.

Two other brothers are lawyers: Michael J. Hennig of Cassiday, Schade & Gloor, and Richard P. Hennig, assistant general counsel of Zurich North America in Schaumburg.

George “Jerry” Hennig was invested as a deacon and often served at St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church.

Retired Cook County associate judge Cornelius John Houtsma Jr. died March 5 at age 77 of kidney failure at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood.

A 1959 graduate of night classes at the Loyola University School of Lawn, he was an attorney with Commonwealth Edison for two years before becoming a partner in the Chicago firm of Houtsma, Perel & Fagel.

Mr. Houtsma was appointed to the bench in 1979 and served in the 6th Municipal District, Markham, before retiring in 1992. He was former chief justice of the Oak Law Elks Lodge.

Chicago attorney Robert Emmett Hynes, a partner in O'Keefe, Lyons & Hynes, died Feb. 16 at age 62 of a heart attack in his Palos Heights home.

A 1969 graduate of night classes at the Loyola University School of Law, Mr. Hynes was an Internal Revenue Service agent and assistant general counsel of the Illinois Department of Revenue before becoming general counsel to the Cook County assessor.

He was a partner in the property taxation firm of Hynes, Johnson & McNamara before its merger with the O'Keefe firm in 2002. He provided scholarship funds for the Loyola law school and Mount Carmel High School.

Mr. Hynes served on State and Local Taxation Committees of the Chicago and Illinois State Bar Associations in 1978 and was a member of the Institute of Property Taxation.

Carl Morse Jensen Jr. of Lake Forest, a 1947 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, died March 8 at age 88.

Peoria attorney John Martin Lawless, who was president of the Peoria County Bar Association in 1975-76, died Feb. 27 at age 81. A 1950 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, he was an assistant attorney general for three years.

Mr. Lawless practiced with Chester Anderson from 1953 until 1960, when he became a partner in Vonachen, Lawless, Trager & Slevin.

Bloomington attorney William Lawrence, a partner in Lawrence, Moore, Ogar & Jacobs, died Feb. 4 at age 78 at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.

A 1951 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Mr. Lawrence served in the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Department for the next three years, attaining the rank of captain.

He joined Williams & Williams in 1954, then was a founding member in 1956 of Campbell, Markowitz & Lawrence, which became the Lawrence, Moore firm. He was an assistant attorney general in eminent domain cases for the Department of Transportation from 1969 to 1980.

A past president of the McLean County Bar Association, Mr. Lawrence was McLean County state's attorney from 1962 to 1964, a member of the County Board of Supervisors from 1965 to 1972, and the County Board until 1990.

He was a past president of the McLean County Tuberculosis Association, the Brokaw Hospital board and the Lake Bloomington Association. He was a volunteer at the County Historical Society.

Survivors include a son, 11th Circuit Associate Judge Paul G. Lawrence, a former member of the ISBA Assembly and a past chair of the Bar Publications Board, and a daughter-in-law, Helen E. Ogar of the Lawrence firm.

Retired Canton attorney William Howard Malmgren died Feb. 20 at age 94, in his home. A 1952 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, he served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific during World War II.

Mr. Malmgren was Canton city attorney from 1969 to 1977, years when the city was hit by a fire and a tornado, and was Fulton County state's attorney for four years.

A member of the Lincoln-Douglas Toastmaster Club who was named Outstanding District Governor, he was a past commander of the American Legion post and an exalted ruler of the Elks Club.

Peoria attorney Robert Allan McCord died Feb. 11 at age 86. A 1948 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, he served in the Navy during World War II.

Mr. McCord was a partner in Leiter, Newlin, Fraser, Parkhurst & McCord from 1948 to 1990 and board chair of Illinois Mutual Life and Casualty Co.

He was honored in 2005 by the Illinois Bar Foundation and Peoria County Bar Association as a Pillar of the Bar.

Retired Naperville attorney Frank J. Merrill died Jan. 31 at age 82 in Edward Hospital and Health Services. He served in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II and was a 1959 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law.

Mr. Merrill practiced with the George F. Barrett Law Firm before opening his own practice in Oak Brook and later in Naperville. He was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the first commander of its post in Fairbury.

Retired Peoria and Lewiston attorney Ross E. Morris died March 5 at age 84 in his home in unincorporated Wee-Ma-Tuk southwest of Canton. He was a 1951 graduate of the Washington University School of Law.

Mr. Morris served in the Navy Submarine Service for four years during World War II and received the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.

He joined the Peoria firm of McConnell, Kennedy & McConnell in 1951 and retired in 1977 from its successor, McConnell, Kennedy, Quinn & Morris. For the next 13 years, he had a law office in Lewiston.

Mr. Morris was a member of the National Panel of Consumer Arbitrators Section of Insurance, Negligence and Compensation Law.

Laura J. Gitlin Petlak, formerly of Woodstock, died Feb. 12 at age 49 of cancer. She was a partner with her husband, Steven Petlak, in the Beverly Hills, Calif., Law Office of Gitlin-Petlak.

A 1984 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, Mrs. Petlak first practiced family law in Woodstock with her father, H. Joseph Gitlin. She received the Woman of the Year Award from the Business and Professional Women's Club and played flute in the Woodstock City Band.

Survivors include her brother, Woodstock attorney Gunnar J. Gitlin.

Joliet attorney Jeanette M. Dvells-Lomeda Riel of Crete died Feb. 7 at age 46. A 2002 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, she was an associate in family law with Bruggeman, Hurst & Associates.