2 CINCINNATI BAR ASSOCIATION 3 MEMORIAL SERVICE. 4 Honoring Local Attorneys Who Passed Away in Hamilton County Courthouse

Transcription

1 1 1 2 CINCINNATI BAR ASSOCIATION 3 MEMORIAL SERVICE 4 Honoring Local Attorneys Who Passed Away in Hamilton County Courthouse 11 Courtroom of the Honorable Steven E. Martin 12 Room Main Street 14 Cincinnati, Ohio Thursday, April 4, :00 Noon

2 2 1 THE BAILIFF: All rise. 2 The Special Session of the Court 3 of Common Pleas in and for Hamilton 4 County is now in session. 5 The Honorable Judge Beth Myers is 6 presiding. The Honorable Judge Susan 7 Dlott, the Honorable Judge Sylvia 8 Hendon, and the Honorable Judge Bernie 9 Bouchard. 10 Please be seated. 11 JUDGE MYERS: Good afternoon 12 everybody, and welcome this afternoon. 13 We really thank you for being here. 14 It's my privilege to be presiding today 15 over this wonderful occasion. 16 I want to begin by introducing 17 you to my colleagues on the bench and 18 then to other judges in the courtroom. 19 First seated to my immediate left is 20 Presiding Judge Susan Dlott, Chief Judge 21 Dlott from the Federal District Court. 22 To my immediate right is Judge 23 Sylvia Hendon, presiding judge of the 24 Court of Appeals of Hamilton County. 25 And to the far right is Judge Bernie

3 3 1 Bouchard, who is a Municipal Court 2 judge, filling in for Judge Russell 3 Mock, the presiding judge of the 4 Municipal Court. 5 I also would like to introduce my 6 other colleagues who are seated here 7 today in the courthouse. First of all, 8 Judge Michael Barrett from the U.S. 9 Federal District Court; Magistrate Judge 10 Stephanie Bowman from Federal Court; 11 Judge Patrick Dinkelacker, First 12 District Court of Appeals; Judge Ethna 13 Cooper, Court of Common Pleas; Judge 14 Richard Bernat, Hamilton County 15 Municipal Court; Judge Brad Greenberg, 16 also of the Municipal Court; Judge 17 Melissa Powers, Hamilton County 18 Municipal Court; Judge Beth Buchanan 19 from the bankruptcy court, U.S. 20 Bankruptcy Court; Judge Heather Russell 21 from Municipal Court; Judge Dennis 22 Helmick, Court of Common Pleas; Judge 23 Melba Marsh, Court of Common Pleas; and 24 Judge Martin, Hamilton County Court of 25 Common Pleas.

4 4 1 Judge Martin, thank you very much 2 for the use of your courtroom here 3 today. 4 This is a day when we both mourn 5 the loss of our legal community and 6 celebrate the lives of the lawyers who 7 have passed away this year. Each of our 8 departed colleagues contributed to the 9 profession in her or his own way, and 10 each one of those people has impacted us 11 in more ways than we could ever express 12 here today. 13 On behalf of the legal community 14 and of the Bench, I want to thank 15 everybody for being here today as we 16 honor those people. 17 I'm going to turn the proceedings 18 over at this time to Anthony Reiss, who 19 is the president of the Cincinnati Bar 20 Association. 21 Tony. 22 MR. REISS: Thank you, Your 23 Honor. 24 And, again, on behalf of the 25 Cincinnati Bar Association, welcome to

5 5 1 the 2013 Memorial Service. 2 Even though we as attorneys often 3 oppose one another, this is one day when 4 we are all family. The legal community 5 here in Cincinnati is unlike others 6 throughout the U.S. in that we are able 7 to come together, in spite of our 8 differences, to honor those of our 9 family who have passed on. 10 Unfortunately, I never had the 11 opportunity to get to know all of the 12 attorneys we are honoring today, but I 13 do know that they all had long and 14 productive careers. They worked hard on 15 behalf of their clients, they worked 16 hard to defend justice and the legal 17 system, and they worked hard for their 18 loved ones. 19 To the family members here of 20 those we honor, we share your grief. We 21 all have lost a family member. 22 At this time, I would like to 23 turn things over to John Norwine, 24 Executive Director of the Cincinnati Bar 25 Association.

6 6 1 MR. NORWINE: I'm John Norwine, 2 the Executive Director of the Cincinnati 3 Bar Association, and this is the 4 eighteenth time I've had the privilege 5 of standing up here before you and 6 reading the names of the people we are 7 honoring today into the Court's records. 8 I knew most of these attorneys. 9 I worked alongside of them, and I called 10 many of them friends. There are 11 large-firm and small-firm attorneys on 12 this list, as well as those who 13 primarily built businesses rather than 14 practiced law on a daily basis. Some 15 took breaks from practicing law to spend 16 time in the armed forces defending our 17 country, and virtually every one of our 18 honorees served the community by their 19 involvement in many charitable, civic, 20 and religious institutions, donating 21 both their time and their resources. 22 There is one person that I want 23 to recognize especially in here, and 24 that is Martha Jane Perin. Martha Jane 25 was the first executive director of

7 7 1 Cincinnati Bar Association, serving from to As many people have told 3 me on a rather frequent basis -- and I 4 agree -- she was the best executive 5 director the Bar Association ever had. 6 Martha Perin, more than any other 7 single person, made the Cincinnati legal 8 community what it is today; a group of 9 outstanding attorneys who strive every 10 day to serve their clients and the 11 community. Martha is the reason I'm in 12 my position today, and I will always be 13 grateful to her. 14 But what strikes me most about 15 this list is the sense of family in the 16 Greater Cincinnati legal community. I 17 counted at least eight of the attorneys 18 whose sons or daughters have gone on to 19 become attorneys. I also saw several 20 others whose fathers, brothers, and 21 uncles are members of the legal 22 community. While we miss every one of 23 these attorneys, we are a better 24 community today because they made us a 25 better community.

8 8 1 The members of the Bar who we're 2 honoring today are the following: 3 Harold B. Attix, John C. "Jack" Bauer, 4 James W. Carpenter, George Fabe, Hal F. 5 Franke, David E. Gebhart, Alex Gortsas, 6 William T. Hayden, Edward A. Hogan, 7 Lanny R. Holbrook, Harvey A. Immerman, 8 Richard H. Johnson, Robert A. 9 Lavercombe, Andrew R. Leeper, Mary 10 Louise Loyanich, James L. Lyons, Carl 11 Morgenstern, Martha H. Perin, Sheldon E. 12 Pogue, Ryan Carter Poston, Harry D. 13 Rankin, Sylvan P. Reisenfeld, Steven L. 14 Salman, Jerome L. Schimpf, Thomas M. 15 Sheeran, Duane R. Skavdahl, Fay E. 16 Stilz, John J. Sullivan, Robert J. 17 Townsend, William P. Whalen, Jr., 18 A. Christian Worrell, III. 19 JUDGE MYERS: Thank you, 20 Mr. Norwine. 21 At this time, I would like to 22 turn the program over to Reverend Thomas 23 Dennemann, pastor of St. Ann Catholic 24 Church. 25 Father.

9 9 1 REVEREND DENNEMANN: Thank you. 2 Honorable Judge Myers, Judges, 3 Mr. Reiss, Mr. Norwine, members of the 4 Cincinnati Bar Association, my dear 5 friends, and guests here today. It's a 6 privilege to be with you today. 7 I am Father Tom Dennemann from 8 St. Ann Parish, and it's always a 9 pleasure to join together with a large 10 number of people like this together to 11 take a moment, to take a deep breath, 12 and try to understand things. 13 I remember reading a long time 14 ago about an author who might have been 15 Nathaniel Hawthorne -- I can't recall but anyway, he was receiving $5.00 a 17 word for writing for a particular 18 newspaper. And somebody, one of the 19 readers, was irate about that. So this 20 reader wrote him a letter and said, "I 21 hear you get $5.00 a word. That's 22 absurd. Here's $5.00" -- he put it in 23 with it -- "send me a word worth $5.00." 24 He received an envelope back. He 25 opened it up. One word written in

10 10 1 there, said "Thanks." 2 (Laughter) 3 Thanks is worth a lot more than 4 five dollars. When we can be thankful, 5 that means that we are perhaps seeing 6 more deeply into life, even in difficult 7 moments, understanding the ways that we 8 otherwise would not, and understanding 9 in a way that says we believe. 10 And so I want to share some ideas 11 with you today, because I had 12 encountered a need for that not long ago 13 myself when I was attacked, violently 14 attacked. It was a heck of a fight. I 15 threw it down, it threw me down. We 16 went around quite a while. And, 17 finally, I won the fight. 18 You know the assailant. I knew 19 the assailant. You've met that person 20 as well. It has a name. It's called 21 Grief. But once we've met it, once 22 we've encountered it, and once we fought 23 with it -- and it's a devastating 24 fight -- and once we come through and 25 win, then we know something more, then

11 11 1 we can understand. 2 Isn't it amazing how we can walk 3 into a room and be meeting many people 4 and be able to pick out those who are 5 still grieving? And when we see them 6 and they see us at a wake or visitation 7 and we're trying to think of words to 8 say, and there are no easy words, the 9 most eloquent thing, perhaps, we can say 10 is to squeeze a hand, put an arm around 11 the shoulder, stand quietly together for 12 a moment. Not words we verbalize, but 13 words we speak with great eloquence 14 saying, I understand, I'm with you, 15 you're not alone. 16 We may not be able to go much 17 further than that, and yet I think we 18 can. Because you've experienced this as 19 well. How have you dealt with the 20 challenges of losing someone you love? 21 And we're here today to help make that 22 happen. We're here today because we've 23 been given something that we would 24 recognize if it wasn't there. We've 25 been given something that is a great

12 12 1 tool and a great weapon to help us come 2 through these battles that often we 3 recognize by its absence. 4 For example, in one of the movies 5 that Marilyn Monroe in her tragic life, 6 she was in the midst of, I think, 7 Misfits. And her husband at the time 8 was watching her as she was fitfully 9 sleeping with drugged assistance, 10 because she couldn't sleep, and he wrote 11 in this book that I read a long time 12 ago. He wrote, As I watched this lovely 13 woman sleep, my wife, I found myself 14 thinking, he said, Wouldn't it be 15 wonderful if she were to wake up and I 16 could say to her, Honey, God loves you. 17 Oh how I wish, he said, she still had 18 her faith and I had mine. 19 That is an amazing gift that 20 enables us to understand. 21 One of the scriptures I like from 22 the Bible when I would read it, we would 23 not have you grieve as people who have 24 no hope, people without hope. We do 25 have hope. We have every reason to

13 13 1 hope, because everywhere we look and 2 when we see so much around us that says 3 we are loved, and we love. 4 And especially remembering today, 5 those who have gone before us, and we 6 remember the way we shared life and the 7 difference they made in ours and the 8 opportunity we had to make a difference 9 in theirs. We have that opportunity 10 again today, and will every day of your 11 life, because they have loved you and 12 you have loved them. And you believe, 13 as I do, that there is every reason to 14 hope. Our God is a loving God. 15 There's a book I mentioned -- the 16 story I mentioned, actually, a short 17 story at St. Ann's another time called The Naval Treaty by Conan Doyle 19 of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional 20 detective. Maybe you've read that. 21 At any rate, in the middle of 22 that story, it has nothing to do with 23 the story. Conan Doyle has his hero in 24 the story, the great Detective of 25 Deduction, who could come to truths that

14 14 1 other people wouldn't even see the 2 evidence of, and he picks up a flower -- 3 a rose, I believe it was -- and he's 4 just standing there looking at it, and 5 they're all looking at him. And he 6 starts to speak about something that has 7 nothing to do with the case in hand. 8 He said, I believe we see the 9 greatest testimony of a benevolent God 10 in the roses, or the flowers. He said, 11 In the final analysis, the air we 12 breathe, we need to live. The water we 13 must drink, we have to have. But a 14 rose, the beauty of a rose, is an extra, 15 and only love gives extras. 16 So I believe we have great to 17 hope for in the flowers. I believe we 18 have much to hope for. 19 And when we see the power of what 20 one life can do for so many others, what 21 one life did for you, and what you can 22 do for others. 23 You remember the film A Wonderful 24 Life with Jimmy Stewart? It's on every 25 holiday season around Christmas. At one

15 15 1 point, the angle in there, who played 2 many roles throughout history in movies, 3 so I know he wasn't really an angle. 4 (Laughter) 5 Anyway, he says to Stewart, Isn't 6 it amazing, he says, how one life 7 touches so many others? 8 Boy, do we know the truth of 9 that. Lives that have touched yours and 10 mine that we're remembering today. 11 Lives that have brought us into that 12 battle every time, again, with that old 13 enemy Grief, and lives that have touched 14 us and helped us to smile and say, I 15 know there's more, I know God is good, I 16 know we will come through this. I know 17 my loved ones are in the hands of a 18 loving God, a benevolent God who gave us 19 the flowers that give us hope that says, 20 It will be okay. 21 And we've experienced an 22 individual -- that I mentioned also at 23 St. Ann -- by the time when I was a boy 24 I was climbing where I wasn't supposed 25 to climb. Maybe you've done the same

16 16 1 thing. Lost my footing, grabbed the 2 limb of this tree, and I'm hanging 3 there. I didn't know what to do. I 4 have four sisters and a brother. Two of 5 them were older than me, and they ran 6 away to get help. I wasn't going to let 7 go, I was going to die with that tree, 8 as a part of my body, I thought. 9 Hanging on forever, until I heard this 10 voice that said, I've got you, Bub. The 11 voice of my dad. I couldn't see him, 12 but I knew that voice. I let go. And 13 he caught me. Wouldn't you? 14 Who do you trust? What voice do 15 you recognize? Who is it that's touched 16 your life in such a way that you know 17 because of this loving God that they're 18 okay and you pray for them every day and 19 you're still fighting that battle with 20 Grief, but you have every tool to help 21 you you could possibly have: People 22 around you who love you and you love 23 them. Faith in the God who is a loving 24 God who will help you through these 25 difficult times. And though we cannot

17 17 1 see it, and cannot understand it, he has 2 a comprehension that is beyond ours. He 3 has an understanding that is something 4 we can't begin to grasp, and he sees and 5 knows and will give what is best for me 6 and you and our loved ones. This, I 7 believe with all that I have. 8 Another scripture that I have as 9 a favorite one is simply this: To 10 accept that truth and to accept that 11 peace that God is with us, we can 12 remember, Do not let your hearts be 13 troubled. 14 Well, that's a big challenge, but 15 our hearts and scripture speaks to our 16 very being, the depths of our souls, who 17 we are as people. 18 Today as you pray, as you 19 remember, as you say thank you, and as 20 you carry on, keep deep within you, even 21 in the midst of tears, a joy that 22 says -- because it's there. Notice it, 23 grab it, see it, hold on to it -- a 24 voice that says, I've got you. Let go. 25 May God bless you all, my

18 18 1 friends. Bless you with peace, bless 2 you with joy, bless you with the faith 3 and the hope that is God's alone to give 4 us and that sees us through these 5 battles that you're fighting right now. 6 Thank you. 7 JUDGE MYERS: Father, thank you 8 for those thoughtful words. 9 Mr. Reiss, if you will now 10 address the group. 11 Mr. Norwine. 12 MR. NORWINE: Your Honor, I 13 apologize. I failed to read into the 14 record the name of Mark David 15 Schraffenberger, who passed away last 16 year. 17 JUDGE MYERS: Thank you. 18 Mr. Reiss. 19 MR. REISS: Thank you, John. 20 Thank you, Judge Myers. 21 Thank you, Father Dennemann, for 22 that wonderful and moving homily. 23 At this time, I would also like 24 to thank a number of other people who 25 are instrumental in putting this

19 19 1 memorial service together, in particular 2 Judge Martin for the use of your 3 courtroom. You've been a great member, 4 board member and friend, of the 5 Cincinnati Bar Association for years. 6 Thank you to the judges in 7 attendance today, especially Judge Myers 8 for presiding over this service. 9 Thank you also to the family, 10 colleagues, and friends for being here 11 to honor our fallen members. 12 Thank you also to the CBA staff 13 for putting this together. 14 And, finally, the person who 15 almost single-handedly puts this all 16 together, Kathy Schmidt. Thank you, 17 Kathy, wherever you are. Probably 18 behind the scenes somewhere. 19 Judge Myers, at this time, I 20 would like to request that the memorials 21 be transported to the Hamilton County 22 Court of Common Pleas for entry into the 23 permanent records. 24 JUDGE MYERS: We certainly will 25 honor your request, and they will be.

20 20 1 Thank you, Mr. Reiss. 2 Ladies and gentlemen, as I 3 started, this is a day when we both 4 mourn the loss of our colleagues and 5 when we celebrate their lives. And I 6 know that the loss is individual to each 7 one of you, but I want you all to know 8 that your loved ones, your family, your 9 friends, your colleagues have made a 10 difference in our legal community, and 11 we celebrate their lives today and their 12 commitment to our profession and all of 13 the service that they brought to our 14 profession. 15 And, Father, I want to thank you 16 again for those thoughtful words. 17 Mr. Reiss, Mr. Norwine, 18 Ms. Schmidt. 19 Also, Judge Jerome Metz joined 20 us, and I would like, also, to introduce 21 him. 22 Thank you, Judge Metz, for being 23 here. 24 Ladies and gentlemen, this will 25 conclude our session of the Court. I am

21 21 1 going to invite all of you -- 2 Mr. Norwine, I believe it's in 3 the library -- 4 MR. NORWINE: It is, Your Honor. 5 JUDGE MYERS: -- on the Sixth 6 Floor to a reception. 7 And again, thank you all for 8 being here. It's been our privilege to 9 serve over this proceeding today. 10 Thank you. 11 THE BAILIFF: All rise. 12 This Special Session is now 13 adjourned. 14 (Whereupon, the 2013 Memorial 15 Service concluded.)

22 22 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I, COLLEEN R. O'CONNELL, the 3 undersigned, a Registered Diplomate Reporter for 4 the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, do 5 hereby certify that at the same time and place 6 stated herein, I recorded in stenotype and 7 thereafter transcribed the within 21 pages and 8 that the foregoing Transcript of Proceedings is 9 a true, complete, and accurate transcript of my 10 said stenotype notes. 11 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my 12 hand this 22nd day of April, Colleen R. O'Connell 15 Registered Diplomate Reporter Court of Common Pleas 16 Hamilton County, Ohio