ISBA Laureate Award winner Joseph R. Bartylak of Alton passed away on Thursday, Aug. 26, after suffering from pneumonia. Mr. Bartylak joined the staff of the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation when it was founded in 1972. He had been staff attorney of the Legal Services Society of Madison County, one of seven organizations that combined to form LLLAF. Bartylak became the agency's executive director in 1976 and served for 27 years. He was at the helm while Land of Lincoln expanded into 65 southern Illinois counties and established several regional offices throughout its 33,OOO-square-mile service area.
A 1947 graduate of the Washington University School of Law, Bartylak has been an advocate for legal services to the poor for most of his 58 years in practice. He retired from Land of Lincoln in 2003, but continued to serve the profession as the first downstate associate director of the Lawyers' Assistance Program. A past president of LAP who has served on its board for 25 years, Bartylak was a member of the ISBA Assembly and a past chair of the Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and the Committee on Public Relations. He was a Charter Fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation, a trustee of the Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice, and a past president of the Madison County Bar Association.
Bartylak has received the Charles Dorsey Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, the Lovejoy Human Rights Award, a Distinguished Service Award from the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois, and the Carl H. Rolewick Award from the Lawyers' Assistance Program.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, Sept. 2, at 1:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Alton.
Obituaries
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August 30, 2010 |
People
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August 27, 2010 |
People
[caption id="attachment_14232" align="alignright" width="174" caption="Amie Joof"][/caption] Amie "Tukung" Joof passed away recently after a long battle with cancer. Amie graduated from St. Joseph’s High School, in The Gambia West Africa, in 1979. Upon completion of her high school studies, she worked in The Gambia in the Statistics Department as a junior clerk.
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August 25, 2010 |
People
Ray James Schoonhoven passed away at his Lake Forest home last month. Mr. Schoonhoven served in the Navy in WWII on a PT Boat in the South Pacific. He returned to Chicago after the war and received his J.D. from Northwestern Law School. He joined the law firm then called Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather and Geraldson. He was widely regarded as one of the premier management labor lawyers in the country and was a dedicated mentor to several generations of lawyers. Click here to read the full obituary
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August 24, 2010 |
People
Longtime Lincoln attorney John R. Gelbach passed away on Monday at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. Mr. Gehlbach graduated from Beason High School in 1938 and studied for two years at the University of Illinois, where he served on the staff of the Daily Illini newspaper. He transferred to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1942. During World War II, John spent 4½ years of Navy service for his country in the Seabees. He was on duty in the Pacific Theatre in Australia and New Guinea. While in the Navy, John studied for 8 months at the Harvard University School of Business. Discharged in 1946, he had attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the war he enrolled at Northwestern University Law School, a member of the class of 1949, he was an editor of the Northwestern Law Review and received a bachelor of laws degree in 1949. After being admitted to the bar, Mr. Gehlbach became assistant to the general counsel for Swift & Company in Chicago until 1951 when he moved back to Lincoln to open his law firm. Family will receive friends from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., on Thursday, Aug. 26, at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home, 127 South Logan, Lincoln. A funeral ceremony will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 402 Pekin Street, Lincoln, Illinois on Friday, Aug. 27 at 11 a.m. with Father James Cravens officiating. Burial will be in Elkhart Cemetery, Elkhart. Memorial contributions may be made to Lincoln College or Trinity Episcopal Church. Read the full obituary in the Springfield State Journal-Register.
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August 23, 2010 |
People
Clyde E. Murphy, a crusading civil rights attorney who won a Supreme Court case on behalf of African-American firefighter applicants, passed away on Aug. 17 at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. Services have been held. In his 35-year legal career, first with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and more recently as executive director of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mr. Murphy handled employment discrimination, affirmative-action, police misconduct and housing bias cases. His pivotal achievement came this year when the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal judge's ruling that the city of Chicago discriminated against a group of more than 6,000 African-American applicants who took the 1995 firefighter entrance exam. Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune
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August 20, 2010 |
People
Alfred E. Gallo passed away Monday after a brief illness. Mr. Gallo was an attorney who specialized in trusts and estates and was a former president of Northern Trust Bank. Mr. Gallo was a long time president of the American Sicilian Cultural Foundation and founder of the elite Oenophilists Society of Chicago. He was a recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Justinian Society of Lawyers and its former president. Click here to read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune
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August 20, 2010 |
People
Don Jurewicz, 64, former Cook County Assistant Public Defender, passed away last Saturday, Aug. 14, after an extensive battle with cancer. Visitation and a memorial service will be held this Saturday, August 21, 2010 from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Blake & Lamb Funeral Home, 4727 103rd Street, Oak Lawn, Illinois. Don attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, on a Chick Evans Scholarship and graduated with a BA in 1967. He obtained his JD from John Marshall Law School in 1975. Don worked as a Cook County Public Defender from 1975 - 2003. Upon retirement from the Public Defender’s Office, he began a private law practice in Blue Island. Don had been very active in the Dolton Riverdale Jaycees and had been a member of the Dolton Zoning Board of Appeals. He had also been active in the Worth Township Regular Democratic Organization. Don was a member of the South Suburban Bar Association, the Southwest Bar Association and the ISBA. He was an avid reader and a sports fan.
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August 19, 2010 |
People
Nathan G. Brenner Jr. passed away last week. Mr. Brenner was a partner in the Morton Grove firm of Brenner, Matvrias and Alm. Read his full obituary in the Chicago Tribune
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August 10, 2010 |
People
Former 10th Circuit Judge Peter Paolucci passed away last month at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Mr. Paolucci graduated from Bradley University and the St. Louis University School of Law. He began his practice in Lacon in 1955 and became an associate judge in 1970. He retired from the 10th Circuit Court in 1987 and returned to practice law in Lacon. Click here to read the full obituary in the Peoria Journal Star.
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August 9, 2010 |
People
Longtime Joliet attorney Wellington S. Smith passed away last month at the age of 96. Mr. Smith was born in Chicago and was a graduate of Morgan Park Military, Lake Forest College and John Marshall Law School. He was employed for 43 years at Chicago Title and Trust. After retiring, he practiced at law with Galowich & Galowich in Joliet as well as acting as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the Will County Arbitration Commission. Mr. Smith was a WWII and Korean Conflict Veteran and received three Battle Stars. Read the full obituary at www.bgsfuneralhome.com.