In Memoriam, Jan. - Feb. 2021

Mary Susan Appelquist, age 66, of Mt. Vernon, on Dec. 29, 2020. Appelquist graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia and joined The Missouri Bar in 1979. Appelquist worked at her family firm, Appelquist Law Offices, for about 40 years.

Robert A. Brown Jr., age 88, of St. Joseph, on July 20, 2020. Brown graduated from the University of Michigan School of Law in Ann Arbor, MI, and joined The Missouri Bar in 1956. Brown practiced law for more than 50 years, specializing in medical malpractice defense. He worked at his family’s firm, Brown, Douglas & Brown.

John C. Christian Jr., age 90, of Madisonville, LA, on June 30, 2020. Christian attended Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, LA, and joined The Missouri Bar in 1956. He practiced in both federal and state courts, representing oil and gas companies and landowners in various proceedings. Christian served in the U.S. Marine Corps and the Missouri National Guard.

Richard Constance, age 70, of St. Louis, on Nov. 23, 2020. Constance graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law in Kansas City and joined The Missouri Bar in 1976. He practiced law for more than 45 years.

Charles J. DeFeo Jr., age 77, of Kansas City, on July 20, 2020. DeFeo graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law in Kansas City and joined The Missouri Bar in 1970. DeFeo served as Kansas City assistant city prosecutor for seven years and later as a Kansas City municipal court judge from 1977 to 2002.

JoEllen Engelbart, age 32, of Independence, on Jan. 2, 2021. Engelbart attended the University of Missouri Law School in Kansas City and joined The Missouri Bar in 2015. She served as the assistant prosecutor at the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. Engelbart was elected to The Missouri Bar’s Young Lawyers’ Section Council in 2018. She was re-elected to represent District 3 or Jackson County in 2020. Shortly thereafter, she was selected by members of the council to serve as chair-elect for the 2020-21 bar year. 

James G. Gunter, age 41, of St. Louis, on Nov. 11, 2020. Gunter joined The Missouri Bar in 2013.

Larry Darnell Hale, age 67, of Glencoe, on Jan. 11, 2020. Hale attended Saint Louis University School of Law and joined The Missouri Bar in 1978. He was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri and later co-established Peoples, Hale and Coleman. He was an instructor at Washington University School of Law and Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA. Hale also served as an assistant special counsel during the investigation into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX.

William R. Hass, age 83, of Springfield, on Dec. 30, 2019. Hass graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville and joined The Missouri Bar in 1969. Hass worked at Niblock Law Firm and the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office and was elected associate circuit judge for Oregon County, MO, a position he held for 13 years before retiring. He served in the U.S. Army.

Norman Humphrey Jr., age 83, of Independence, on Nov. 25, 2020. Humphrey attended the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia and joined The Missouri Bar in 1962. He practiced law in Independence for 35 years and was a founding partner of Humphrey, Farrington, & McClain law firm. Humphrey served in the U.S. Army.

Dianna C. Long, age 66, of Columbia, on Dec. 9, 2020. Long graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia and joined The Missouri Bar in 1991. She worked as a public defender, prosecutor, and municipal judge throughout Missouri before going into private practice in Columbia.

Robert L. Meyer, age 87, of St. Louis, on Nov. 10, 2020. Meyer attended Washington University School of Law and practiced with Leyhe, Meyer, Leyhe, Baker and Lobel for more than 50 years.

John Michael Mowrer, age 75, of Kennett, on Nov. 23, 2020. Mowrer graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia and joined The Missouri Bar in 1977. He was a partner at Dalton, Mowrer, and Chidister, LLP, and was a municipal judge in Kennett for 42 years. Mowrer served in the U.S. Army.

Timothy D. O’Leary, age 92, of Leawood, KS, on Oct. 6, 2020. O’Leary attended the University of Missouri School of Law in Kansas City. After working in both the Kansas City Attorney’s Office and in private practice, he was appointed as a judge in the 16th Circuit Court in Jackson County. He most recently practiced with Polsinelli.

Jerry Redfern, age 84, of Springfield, on June 3, 2020. Redfern graduated from Washington University School of Law and joined The Missouri Bar in 1961. For more than 50 years, he practiced law at Neale & Newman, L.L.P., becoming senior partner at the firm.

Kathy Joan Robinson, age 51, of Kansas City, on Nov. 6, 2020. Robinson graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law in Kansas City and joined The Missouri Bar in 1995.

Joy Urbom Taylor, age 57, of Windermere, FL, on Sept. 9, 2020. Taylor graduated from Washington University School of Law and joined The Missouri Bar in 1989. She was a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Evans and Dixon and of counsel to Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. before moving to Florida.

Suzanne McLarney Teeven, age 49, of Kansas City, on April 21, 2020. Teeven graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford, CT, and joined The Missouri Bar in 1997. She was a defense trial lawyer who practiced for more than 25 years. She worked at the Missouri Court of Appeals; Shook, Hardy & Bacon; and Hughes Hubbard & Reed.

John Milton Tomlin, age 73, of Jefferson City, on March 12, 2020. Tomlin graduated from John Marshall Law School and joined The Missouri Bar in 1989. He was a Missouri State Public Defender for 25 years, and he practiced law in Chicago before moving to Jefferson City. Tomlin served in the U.S. Army.

William Stanley Walch, age 85, of St. Louis, on Dec. 3, 2019. Walch graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and joined The Missouri Bar in 1959. He worked at Thompson & Mitchell, now known as Thompson Coburn LLP, and served as general counsel for Chromalloy American. Walch practiced law for 60 years in St. Louis.

David Henry Welch, age 66, of Jefferson City, on June 22, 2020. Welch joined The Missouri Bar in 1979.

Robert G. Wilkins, age 73, of High Ridge, on April 23, 2020. Wilkins served as Jefferson County prosecuting attorney for 11 years. He founded the Children’s Advocacy Center and created the county’s drug court and domestic violence program during that time. He later was the circuit judge until retiring in 2016. He joined The Missouri Bar in 1979.