The Bar News

Bar News Sections

Obituaries

  • January 23, 2012 | People
    Christ Troupis 1923-2011

    Christ Troupis, 88, of Mendota, passed away on Dec. 19, 2011.

    Mr. Troupis was born Jan. 28, 1923 in Mendota to Theodore and Efterpe Troupis. He married Marion Roberts on Jan. 2, 1947 in South Bend, Ind.

    Mr. Troupis served in the Pacific Theater of Operations with the Army Air Force during World War II. He attended Northwestern University and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1949. Following law school, Mr. Troupis returned to Mendota where he practiced law for more than 50 years. Before his retirement, he was active in the La Salle County Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar. His practice focused most often on estate and probate matters although he was well known for his representation of school districts and other local units of government.

    He was elected mayor of Mendota in 1953 and served until 1961. During his tenure the Mendota Community Pool was built. He was elected to the Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees in 1967 and served as board president during the acquisition and construction of the campus on the south bluff of the Illinois River. For nearly 20 years, Mr. Troupis also served on Mendota Community Hospital Board of Trustees and was president of that board for several years. He was a member of VFW Post 4079 and the American Legion and was a past member and former president of Mendota Lions Club and Mendota Jaycees. He served as chairman of the local chapter of the American Red Cross and was a past member of the Mendota Elks Lodge and Mendota Moose.

  • January 17, 2012 | People
    Edward Allen Verchota III 1961-2012

    Edward Allen Verchota III, a resident of Champaign, passed away Thursday (Jan. 12, 2012) in Champaign.

    Mr. Verchota was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Paris, Ill.

    Mr. Verchota graduated from Champaign Central High School in 1979. He earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1983 and a juris doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law in 1987.

    Allen was admitted to practice law in the state of Illinois in 1988 and was a respected attorney in the Champaign-Urbana area, specializing in litigation and personal injury law.

    Allen loved spending time with his son, playing golf and traveling, especially enjoying warm weather, going to the beach and taking cruises.

    He also was an avid University of Illinois sports fan and an active participant in a local investment club. Allen's life was ended far too soon by complications from liver disease and alcoholism; another gifted and much loved individual's life cut short by addiction.

    A private memorial service will be held for family and close friends. Allen will be greatly missed by all.

    Mr. Verchota is survived by his son; his wife, Kristen Conley Verchota of Savoy; his parents, Judy and George Bryan of Champaign and Edward Allen Verchota Jr. of Paris; one brother, Michael (Kara) Verchota of Monticello; four sisters, Valari Verchota (Richard) Dillingham of Monticello, Anne Bryan (Paul) Peebles of Houston, Texas, Melissa Bryan (Thomas Harrison Jr.) of Berwyn and Brandi Verchota (Rich) Temples of High Ridge, Mo.; as well as five nieces and four nephews. He is further survived by other relatives and many dear friends.

    1 comment (Most recent January 20, 2012)
  • January 12, 2012 | People
    Philip C. Wherry 1939-2011

    Philip Comstock Wherry, 72, of Chicago, died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, from complications due to Parkinson’s disease.

    He was born in 1939 in Pekin, to Dr. Roland C. and Miriam Platt Wherry. He was raised in Pekin.

    His parents preceded him in death.

    He is survived by his wife, Cookie; his daughter, Chandler; his brother, Richard (Nancy) Wherry; and a loving circle of family and friends.

    He was educated at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.; and graduated from the University of Miami, where he met “the love of his life” and future wife, Helen “Cookie” Reichert.

    After moving to Chicago and graduating from IIT Kent College of Law, Philip became a senior clerk to the late Federal Judge Julius J. Hoffman in Chicago. He became an associate at the law firm of Winston & Strawn before founding the firm of Abrams & Wherry, which specialized in business litigation, both in Chicago.

    Philip had a life-long devotion to the community and historic preservation. He worked closely with Burt Natarus, former alderman of the 42nd Ward, to achieve down-zoning of the Near North Side of Chicago. For 30 years, Philip was involved with the North Dearborn Association, ultimately serving seven terms as its president. He was a co-founder of the Near North Preservation Coalition, which helped retain the beauty of that neighborhood.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Thomas G. West 1940-2011

    Prominent attorney Thomas G. West, 71, was born in Galesburg on March 21, 1940, the son of Helen Jo (Bondi) and Joseph E. West, and died in Northfield, Minn., on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.

    He was a 1958 graduate of Galesburg High School, a graduate of Northwestern University, BBA, 1962, and University of Chicago Law, JD, 1965. He taught business law at Wisconsin State University, Whitewater, Wis., from 1965-66. He served as assistant state's attorney for Knox County from 1966-67 and Illinois assistant attorney general - condemnation 1968-76.

    Tom gave freely of his time to the greater Galesburg community. In addition to his association with Simpson Law Office, he served as vice president of Bondi Building Corporation.

    Among other activities and local interests, Tom was past president of Soangetaha Country Club and a member of its Hole-in-One Club. He was past chairman of OSF St.Mary Medical Center Board of Directors and served as a board member of OSF St. Mary Medical Center Foundation. Tom was serving on the IFMC-IL advisory board. From 1971-75, Tom served on the board of trustees for Carl Sandburg College and in 2007 was the recipient of its Founder's Circle Award. He served as attorney for Galesburg District 205 and Knoxville District 202 school boards. Tom was past president and treasurer of Temple Sholom board of directors.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Hartzell Givens 1912-2011

    Hartzell Givens, 99, of Taylorville, IL died at 3:00 am Friday, December 2, 2011 at Taylorville Care Center.

    He was born November 29, 1912 in Heyworth, IL the son of John P. and Rosa L. Hawthorne Givens. His mother was a cousin of the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne. On June 16, 1940 he married Louise D. Dunbar in Taylorville and she preceded him in death on January 11, 1999.

    Hartzell graduated from Eureka College in 1936, and on the 75th anniversary of his graduation he was the oldest living graduate of Eureka College. He then went to Loyola University where he graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 1939. Hartzell had the rare distinction among lawyers of having been one of the few that never lost a case. Hartzell specialized in Abstracting and Title work and went to work for Chicago Title Company in Chicago after graduation. He came to Taylorville in January 1946 and worked at the Taylor Abstracting Co. His association with Chicago Title and Trust lasted for 75 years.

    Hartzell was a veteran of World War II serving with the Navy in the Seabees. One of his assignments was in the Marshall Islands and he was present at Tinian when the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima. The Taylorville Chamber of Commerce awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Royce Glenn Rowe Jr. 1926-2011

    Royce Glenn Rowe Jr., 85, died of lung cancer Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter in Skokie. The longtime Wilmette resident was a retired founding partner of the downtown law firm of McKenna, Storer, Rowe, White & Farrug.

    Mr. Rowe co-founded the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel in Chicago in the mid-1960s to fill a void in the legal community.

    Born in Chicago, Mr. Rowe grew up in Wilmette and graduated in 1944 from Shattuck, a military boarding school in Minnesota. He joined the Navy near the end of World War II, serving for two years at bases in California and Virginia.

    After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in history in 1950, Mr. Rowe attended Cornell Law School, receiving his law degree in 1952.

    Mr. Rowe worked as a government lawyer for a short time in Washington, until moving to Chicago in the early 1950s, where he helped form the law firm.

    Mr. Rowe retired from the firm in 1992, after 40 years.

    In 1978, Mr. Rowe was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.

    Mr. Rowe's wife, Kathryn, died in 1998.

    He is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth Neary, Sarah Rowe and Katrina Sullivan; a sister, Mary Robertson; and five grandchildren.

    No services were held, as was Mr. Rowe's desire.

  • December 20, 2011 | People
    Hon. John Schwartz 1925-2011

    Retired Judge John Schwartz changed the image of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he was chief judge from 1987 to 1998.

    Judge Schwartz, 86, died of natural causes Monday, Nov. 28, while in rehabilitation in Imperial Grove Pavilion in Chicago, said his daughter Nora York. He was a longtime resident of Chicago, where he grew up.

    He attended University of Chicago schools from nursery school to law school. He interrupted his studies in 1943 to serve in the Army Air Forces.

    He resumed his studies in 1945 and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1950, then worked as an assistant U.S. attorney before going into private practice in 1954.

    Judge Schwartz was appointed to the Bankruptcy Court in 1984. He found it wasn't a very happy place and set about looking for ways to improve things, Black said.

    Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune

  • December 13, 2011 | People
    Robert P. Cahill 1936-2011

    Robert Phillip Cahill, a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, died peacefully surrounded by family and friends Dec. 4, 2011 at age 75.

    Justice Cahill was born in 1936. He was educated at St. Louis University, Loyola University of Chicago and Loyola University of Law, earning his J.D. degree in 1966. He began his legal career as a statutory draftsman with the Legislative Reference Bureau in Springfield, then moved to the Illinois Senate where he served as legal counsel to the Education Committee and then Chief of Staff for the Illinois Senate. From 1973 to 1980, he was an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County and chief of special litigation in that office. From 1974 to 1978 he served as an elected member of the Board of Education of District 65 in Evanston.

  • December 12, 2011 | People
    Richard W. Paterson 1927-2011
    Richard W. Paterson, 84, of Champaign passed away Dec. 10, 2011, surrounded by his wife and children. 

    He was born Jan. 25, 1927, in Champaign to Harold and Dolly (Webb) Paterson. He attended Champaign schools, graduating from Champaign High in 1945. After serving in the Army, he returned to Champaign to earn a law degree from the University of Illinois. He was an attorney in the community for 52 years.

    Richard is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marietta Ripley Paterson, and his sister, Bonnie McLauthlin of Denver, Colo. Richard and Marietta have three daughters, Nancy Strang (David), Mary Kaminsky (Lenny), and Martha Henss (Mark). Their beloved grandchildren are Emma and Jake Henss, Maggie Henss Jones, Tucker, Cameron and Shelby Strang, and Bonnie and Lauren Kaminsky. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Norman Paterson.

  • December 8, 2011 | People
    Edward G. Vogt 1931-2011

    Edward G. Vogt, 79, of Kankakee, died on Monday, Nov. 14.

    Mr. Vogt was an attorney. He was born Nov. 16, 1931, in Chicago, the son of Edmund Wisnewski and Margaret Rychloch Vogt. He was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Loyola Law School. He practiced law in Kankakee for 40 years, during which time he tried more than 100 jury trials.

    In retirement he substituted in local high schools and was known as "Mr. V." His hobbies were singing, railroading and recitation of Shakespeare. He was an avid tennis player and bridge enthusiast. Ed was an environmentalist and was a volunteer legal counsel for preventing the garbage dump in Kankakee. He loved his home and yard work. Ed read historical novels, played Scrabble and loved a spirited debate on any issue.

    Surviving are his wife, the former Margaret Ann Shannon, of Kankakee, whom he married Nov. 29, 1959, in Evergreen Park; three sons and one daughter-in-law, Steven and Diane Vogt, of Evergreen Park, Bob Vogt, of Chicago, and John Vogt of Seattle, Wash.; five daughters and three sons-in-law, Katy and Paul Cirzan, of Ashland, Ore., Michelle and Heinz Schuller, of Oak Park, Mary Vogt, of Los Angeles, Calif., Anna Vogt and partner, Jennifer Mitchell, of Berkley, Calif., Shannon and Steven Smith, of Corvallis, Mont.; and seven grandchildren, Lexie, Rachel and Hailey Vogt, Teddy and Katy Schuller, Audrey Cirzan and Ronan Smith.

    He was preceded in death by his parents and stepfather, John Firpach.