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Ever the patriot, Howard Markey hop–ped into a jet fighter plane at O'Hare Field a half-century ago, flew to his hometown of Maywood, and buzzed the military legions and vehicles that headed down Fifth Avenue in the annual Bataan Day Parade.

He did it, as an Air Force Reserve colonel and commander of the Illinois Air National Guard Wing, because he wanted to help memorialize the weekend warriors of the Proviso unit who died in 1942 in the Philippines death march.

Born on Nov. 10, a birth date he shared with the Marine Corps and Martin Luther, Howard T. Markey died May 3 at age 85 in the Manor Care nursing home in Hinsdale.

A patent lawyer, federal judge, law school dean, war hero and jet test pilot, he had a strong will to succeed in each calling. He dressed in crisp whites for his first job, selling ice cream at age 12 in Maywood, to prevail over competitors.

A 1949 cum laude graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, Mr. Markey had enlisted in the Army Air Corps a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He trained fighter pilots during World War II and tested prototype jet planes in Alaska after the war.

Recalled to active duty during the Korean War, he survived an anti-aircraft barrage that killed everyone else on the plane that he flew back to the base although severely wounded.

His military decorations include the Bronze Star, Air Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Korea's Merit Ulchi, and of course, the Purple Heart. He retired as a reserve major general.

With a master's degree in patent law from The John Marshall Law School, Mr. Markey practiced in Chicago with the intellectual property firm that became Parker, Markey & Plyer.

He was appointed chief judge of the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in 1972, at a time when lower court opinions differed and forum shopping in patent cases was prevalent. Within two years, a three-year backlog was eliminated and the interval between filing and decision reduced to seven months.

Under Mr. Markey's leadership, the court merged with the Court of Claims in 1982 to become the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Practitioners have credited him with rescuing the patent system.

He was the first federal judge to sit in every court of appeals, hearing 1,400 cases and writing 250 opinions. He also heard 5,000 cases in his own court and was the author of 800 opinions.

Retiring from the court in 1991, he became impressed with law students at John Marshall when he delivered a Herzog Lecture. He was asked whether he would consider serving as dean, and in July he was installed.

As dean, Mr. Markey was responsible for an unprecedented era of innovation at the law school. He organized the responsibilities of 51 administrators into three divisions, each with an associate dean.

He established a Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Legal Clinic, and obtained the school's first federal grants to help fund it. He added a computer learning facility with network linking capability.

Major physical plant developments during his watch were renovating the third and 11th floors, computerizing the library, installing a modern telephone system, remodeling of the entrance and foyer, and displaying photographs of distinguished graduates in a Hall of Distinction.

Perhaps one of Mr. Markey's fondest contributions was obtaining the law school's first portrait of John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835.

And his former relationships as a federal judge allowed him to persuade four Supreme Court justices – Warren Burger, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg – to lecture at the school.

After three years as dean, Mr. Markey agreed to continue but was forced to retire Oct. 31, 1994, because of declining health.

On Oct. 23, 1998, he was honored in Washington when the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building was dedicated during a special joint session of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims.

In the ceremony, Congressman Henry J. Hyde, a law school classmate, described Mr. Markey as “a patriot, soldier, lawyer and judge, whose public service and contributions to America's defense and the administration of justice set him apart and rightly distinguish him as a man who has helped to make America great.”

Among the myriad honors that Mr. Markey received are the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation, Loyola's Medal of Excellence, and the American Judicature Society's Herbert Harley Award.

He held honorary doctorates from New York Law School, Western State University College of Law, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Dickinson School of Law, St. John's University, Franklin Pierce Law Center, and William Mitchell School of Law.

A founder of American Inns of Court, Mr. Markey chaired its national board and stewarded its growth to more than 350 chapters. He was past chair of the Air Force Association, the Chief Judges Conference, and the Professional Ethics Committee of the Federal Bar Association.

As one of Mr. Markey's 580 inspiring public speeches predicted accurately, “when my work is done and my time is run, my fervent, fevered hope is that my children will say of me: ‘He helped preserve for us the blessing of our liberty.'”