Obituaries

Warren Haskin was a lawyer other lawyers turned to for advice on difficult issues.

Mr. Haskin spent 40 years with the former Chicago law firm Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, since merged as the Chicago office of K&L Gates. He specialized in corporate, securities and commercial law and was managing partner of the firm before retiring in 1998.

"Lots of us went to Warren for help," said John Blew, also a partner with Bell, Boyd and recently retired from K&L Gates. "He was a very bright man and a penetrating legal analyst."

Mr. Haskin, 79, died of complications of lung cancer Sunday, April 29, in his Chicago home, according to his stepdaughter, Ruthie Beam.

Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune

Thomas Conway Maas, 61, of Fairview passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, April 14, 2012, after a two-year battle with a brain tumor.

He was born Sept. 23, 1950, in Wausau, Wis., to Mary and Conway Maas. He married Deon (Lock) Maas on June 30, 1979, in rural Farmington. She survives.

Thomas graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh in 1973 and Chicago Kent College of Law in 1976.

He worked as an assistant state's attorney in Fulton County from 1976 to 1980. For the remainder of his law career, he was in private practice as a partner with John Potter, then as sole owner of Baudino, Potter & Maas, finally serving as "of counsel" to Froehling, Weber & Schell, LLP. Because he so loved the practice of law, he worked part time through his illness, until six weeks before his death. His primary practice was family and criminal law.

In service to his community, he taught several criminal and juvenile law classes at Spoon River College, was the former president of the Fulton County Bar Association, the Farmington Rotary, the Illinois Association of Boards of Health and the F.C.R.C Board of Directors. He was a charter member of the Fulton County CASA group, a past Cub Scoutmaster and a past board member of the Spoon River College Foundation. During his 33-year membership of the Lincoln Douglas Toastmasters, he held many offices, including division governor of District 54 Toastmasters and participated in many speech contests.

Frederick C. Leydig, 87, passed away April 17, 2012, at his home in Barrington with his wife of 62 years, Patricia, by his side.

Fred was born in Denver, Colo., and grew up in Detroit, Mich. He attended and was a proud alum of the Jesuit University of Detroit High School. In the midst of World War II, Fred earned his B.S. in chemical engineering (1945) from the Illinois Institute of Technology through the Navy's V-12 officer training program, was commissioned an ensign and served aboard the battleship USS New Jersey. While attending IIT, he earned varsity letters in tennis and basketball. As IIT's "giant" center, Fred played against such future basketball greats as George Mikan and Otto Graham.

Attending night school, Fred received his J.D. from DePaul Law School in 1950. He was employed in the patent department of Standard Oil Company and, in 1954, joined the intellectual property firm of Carlson, Pitzner, Hubbard & Wolf, which later came to bear his name: Leydig, Voit & Mayer Ltd. He became one of the nation's preeminent intellectual property attorneys. Testament to his leadership in the firm and renown as a lawyer, the firm continues to bear his name more than 20 years after his retirement.

Along the way, Fred was chairman of Young Republicans of Illinois (1953 - 55), president of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago (1980), president of the United Way of Arlington Heights (1965 - 66), and board member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Law Club of Chicago. He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

John J. "Jack" Schaller, age 63, entered eternal rest April 23, 2012 at Joliet Area Community Hospice Home as the result of complications from liver failure.

A lifelong Sox and Bears fan, Jack was raised on the Southside of Chicago. He graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep, and he later enlisted in the Army and was a soldier in Vietnam. Upon returning from the war, Jack graduated from Illinois State University and began a brief career as a junior high teacher and football coach. While working at Gompers Junior High, Jack met and later married Melissa Stanclik. With his wife's support, he attended Lewis University and pursued his dream of becoming a lawyer, a career he held most of his adult life. Notably, Jack became a prosecutor for the Grundy County States Attorney's office in 1994 and remained until his retirement in June of 2010.

An avid golfer, Jack played the area courses regularly making many friends along the way. Throughout all of these stages of life, Jack could not go anywhere without seeing a familiar face and sharing one of his funny stories. A member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, American Legion Post 1080, and the Will County Irish American Society, Jack will be remembered for his humor and larger than life personality; his pride in his family and his father's bar, Schaller's Pump; and, his devotion to his first grandson, Scotty. Jack will be missed by many and forgotten by none.