In memoriam: March-April 2025

Hon. James J. Barta Sr., age 83, of St. Louis, on Nov. 8, 2023. Barta graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1966. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri and worked with the FBI. He then served as a U.S. bankruptcy judge. 

David W. Beehler, age 65, of Foley, Minnesota, on Jan. 5, 2024. Beehler was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1985 and was a partner at Robins Kaplan for more than 35 years. 

Allison Jean Black, age 44, of Joplin, on Feb. 8, 2024. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2014. She began her career working with her father at Warten, Fisher, Lee & Brown Law Firm and was a trust officer for U.S. Bank. She then worked as a realtor. 

Dennis Charles Brewer, age 87, of Perryville, on Oct. 30, 2024. Brewer graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1966. He served as the Perry County prosecuting attorney before establishing his own practice. 

Elliott Brilliant, age 84, of Penn Valley, California, on Jan. 19, 2023. Brilliant graduated from Yale Law School and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. He spent more than 60 years working in tax and accounting, primarily as a partner with Ernst & Young. 

Phillip Brown, age 88, of Fairway, Kansas, on Nov. 27, 2024. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1962. He began his career at the Tucker Murphy law firm and then served as the Jackson County assistant prosecuting attorney. He later became vice president of Kansas City Southern Industries. Brown served in the U.S. Army. 

James A. Borchers, age 73, of O’Fallon, on Aug. 25, 2024. Borchers graduated from the Gonzaga University School of Law and received a master’s degree in tax law from the Washington University School of Law. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980 and was a lawyer at several law firms including InNovare Law in O’Fallon. 

Hon. Bradley Porter Cameron, age 78, of Carthage, on Dec. 28, 2021. Cameron was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1979 and served as a municipal judge from 1980-2017. He was also a professor at Pittsburg State University. Cameron served in the U.S. Air Force. 

Cynthia Jane Campbell, age 64, of Webb City, on Feb. 15, 2022. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1982. Campbell opened her own practice and worked in the area for more than 35 years. 

James Patrick Cannon, age 65, of Kansas City, on June 8, 2024. Cannon graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1987. He was a medical malpractice and personal injury lawyer with Montee Law Firm before founding Cannon Law Firm. 

James Cleary Jr., age 81, of Olathe, Kansas, on Aug. 14, 2024. Cleary graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1969. He worked as a public prosecutor and a private lawyer. He then worked on retail loss prevention and developed a course for first-offender shoplifters, used by court systems in many states. He also published a book on shoplifting law for retailers. 

Charles Julian Crider, age 80, of Frisco, Texas, on Aug. 10, 2023. Crider graduated from the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. He worked as a landman with the Continental Oil Company, a labor lawyer with General Dynamics, and labor law counsel for Ralston Purina. After retiring, he was a labor law arbitrator. 

Michael Francis Daniels, age 72, of St. Louis, on Dec. 19, 2024. Daniels graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1989. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2005 and provided case management and counsel in state and federal courts in Missouri and Illinois. 

E. Darrell Davis, age 71, of Oregon City, Oregon, on Aug. 13, 2024. Davis graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1979, and was a lawyer in St. Charles. 

James Worthen DeYoung, age 88, of Bluffton, South Carolina, on April 21, 2023. DeYoung graduated from Denver University College of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1965. He practiced law in Kansas City, specializing in real estate. He later worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law. DeYoung served in the Marine Corps. 

James P. Dixon, age 72, of Webster Groves, on Dec. 13, 2024. Dixon was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. 

Paul L. Dobberstein Jr., age 86, of St. Louis, on Dec. 10, 2024. Dobberstein graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. He worked at the law firm of Morris Shenker, focusing on criminal law, until 1977. Then he formed the law firm of Dobberstein & Dobberstein. He was elected to the Judicial Commission of the City of St. Louis in 1980. 

Robert H. Duesenberg, age 93, of St. Louis, on Oct. 29, 2024. Duesenberg graduated from the Valparaiso University School of Law and Harvard Law School. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1953. He served as vice president and general counsel of Pet Incorporated in St. Louis and chaired the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education. He then joined the General Dynamics Corporation, retiring as vice president and general counsel. Duesenberg served in the U.S. military. 

Donald R. Duncan, age 88, of Springfield, on May 31, 2024. Duncan graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1964. He was a partner at Turner, Reid, Duncan, Loomer & Patton for more than 50 years and served as a special attorney general of Missouri. Duncan received The Missouri Bar Foundation’s Purcell Professionalism Award. He served in the U.S. Army. 

Christopher D. Dye, age 80, of Hanover, New Hampshire, on Nov. 8, 2024. Dye graduated from Cornell Law School and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1970. Dye was a defense lawyer for the head of the criminal division of the Legal Aid and Defender Society of Greater Kansas City. He worked for Crane & Inker, then Thomas Troy in Boston. He established a practice in Bradford, Vermont. 

Hon. Thomas Fincham, age 68, of Parkville, on Jan. 14, 2025. Fincham graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1981. He joined a private practice and was a municipal judge. He served as associate judge for Platte County, then as a circuit judge. He was appointed presiding judge of the circuit court in January 2020. 

William Gerstenzang, age 83, of Yorktown Heights, New York, on Feb. 10, 2024. Gerstenzang graduated from the Western New England University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. He served as the Yorktown deputy town attorney and town prosecutor. He practiced patent law. 

Hon. Paul Gilbert, age 92, of Cape Girardeau, on Aug. 8, 2024. Gilbert graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1958. He started his career as the Schuyler County probate and magistrate judge. He practiced insurance law in St. Louis before moving to Cape Girardeau and becoming a senior partner at Thomasson, Dickerson, Gilbert and Cook. Gilbert served in the Naval Air Reserve.

William E. Gladden, age 96, of Houston, on Feb. 9, 2024. Gladden graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1953. He practiced law for 66 years, mostly in his hometown of Houston. He served as Texas County prosecuting attorney, Houston city attorney, and as a lawyer for Intercounty Electric. Gladden served in the U.S. Navy. 

Diane Marie Gray, age 69, of St. Louis, on Dec. 19, 2024. Gray worked as a pharmacist for many years before graduating from the Saint Louis University School of Law. She was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1997. 

John Powell Hastings, age 78, of Leawood, Kansas, on Aug. 7, 2023. Hastings graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. Hastings joined the firm of Grier, Swartzman, and Weiner, before starting his own practice as an estate planning lawyer. 

Hon. Edward Dunn Hodge, age 91, of Mexico, on Dec. 12, 2024. Hodge graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1958. He served as a U.S. Army prosecutor. He practiced law in Mexico and then served for 25 years as a circuit judge for the 12th Circuit Court. Hodge received The Missouri Bar Foundation’s Lon O. Hocker Award. 

Hon. John C. Holstein, age 79, of Springfield, on Dec. 31, 2024. Holstein graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1970. He joined a private practice and became a probate judge before serving as a circuit judge. He was appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals and then the Supreme Court of Missouri, where he served as chief justice from 1995-1997. He returned to private practice and focused on mediation and arbitration. Holstein was a member of The Missouri Bar’s Fee Dispute Resolution Program and received The Missouri Bar Foundation’s Spurgeon Smithson Award. He served in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, and National Guard. 

Douglas Brent Kays, age 77, of Springfield, on April 27, 2024. Kays graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1972. Kays served as the executive director of Legal Services of Southern Missouri for 35 years. 

James Keefe, age 68, of Fairview Heights, Illinois, on Sept. 9, 2024. Keefe graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1990. He practiced for 44 years before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and took over Keefe & DePauli, P.C. from his father. 

Thomas Walsh Kelty, age 79, of Springfield, Illinois, on Oct. 12, 2024. Kelty graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1985. He practiced law for nearly 50 years, primarily at Kelty Law Offices. 

Jan King, age 72, of Kansas City, on March 16, 2019. He graduated from the University of Columbia School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. King worked for Missouri Secretary of State James C. Kirkpatrick and as a hearing officer for the Missouri Division of Employment Security. He then was a district defender for the Missouri State Public Defender System. King served in the U.S. Army. 

Kenneth S. Kochmann, age 79, of Lexington, Kentucky, on Feb. 4, 2024. Kochmann was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1968. He served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. 

Thomas Andrew Krause, age 61, of Dallas, Texas, on June 26, 2024. Krause graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1988. He worked at various private firms in Lake of the Ozarks; Boise, Idaho; and St. Louis. He then served as a section chief with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Dallas, Texas. 

Thomas M. Lang, age 78, of Chesterfield, on Sept. 13, 2024. Lang graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1971. 

Kenneth Frank Laritz, age 74, of Clinton Township, Michigan, on March 20, 2024. Lartiz graduated from the Detroit College of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1991. He practiced law for 50 years, focusing on social security and disability law. 

C. Gregg Larson, age 63, of St. Joseph, on Oct. 11, 2024. Larson graduated from the Creighton University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1991. He had his own practice in St. Joseph. 

Bryan Russell Lemons, age 56, of St. Marys, Georgia, on July 6, 2024. Lemons graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1992. Lemons served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a defense attorney, prosecuting attorney, and senior legal advisor. He joined the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, serving in multiple leadership positions, most recently as chief counsel. He also was an adjunct professor at the College of Coastal Georgia. 

Michael Jay Lichty, age 76, of Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 27, 2023. Lichty graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1972. He worked with Trans World Airlines for 39 years, serving as deputy general counsel and ultimately president and chief executive. 

George Randall Lilleston, age 83, of Clinton, on July 17, 2024. Lilleston was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1971 and started his own firm in Clinton. Lilleston served in the U.S. Air Force. 

William Thornton Marks, age 76, of Weston, Florida, on Sept. 26, 2024. Marks was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. 

Mary C. McDonnell, age 81, of St. Louis, on April 27, 2024. McDonnell graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1967. She was a lawyer with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Maritime Commission. She served as counsel to two U.S. House of Representatives committees and practiced in general civil litigation for 30 years. 

William Charles McIlroy, age 83, of Bowling Green, on Dec. 25, 2024. McIlroy graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1965. McIlroy joined the law firm of McIlroy and Millan and later became president of the Community State Bank of Missouri. He also was the city attorney of Bowling Green and Vandalia, as well as prosecuting attorney of Pike County. 

Lewis Mills, age 94, of St. Louis, on Dec. 8, 2024. Mills graduated from the Washington University School of Law and received a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Law. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1954. Mills served in the U.S. Army, then moved to St. Louis to practice law. He joined the faculty at the Washington University School of Law and then practiced with Peper, Martin, Jensen, Michael & Hetlage before joining Thompson Coburn. 

Jean Bante Moore, age 68, of Denver, Colorado, on Oct. 2, 2024. Moore graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. She was a lawyer at Union Electric. 

John Thomas Papa, age 73, of St. Louis, on Nov. 14, 2024. Papa was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1986. 

John Parres, age 91, of St. Louis, on May 29, 2024. Parres was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1959. 

Duane Allen Patterson, age 92, of Chesterfield, on April 10, 2024. Patterson graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1958. He represented the Ameren Corporation and then worked at INTERCO Inc. until his retirement in 1996. Patterson served in the U.S. Army. 

Paul Wayne Phillips, age 82, of Falls Church, Virginia, on Oct. 24, 2024. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1969. He worked for the Missouri Public Service Commission until 1981. He was a lawyer and then assistant general counsel for Regulatory Interventions and Power Marketing for the U.S. Department of Energy. 

John E. Redmond, age 86, of Kansas City, on Dec. 18, 2024. Redmond graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. Redmond practiced for 60 years and was a trial lawyer with a focus on personal injury and workers’ compensation cases. 

James Ralph Reynolds, age 78, of Kennett, on Aug. 21, 2024. Reynolds graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1971. He was a lawyer with Crow, Reynolds, Shetley, McVey and Scherer law firm for 50 years. 

Bruce Reznick, age 77, of Austin, Texas, on May 27, 2024. Reznick graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1974. He opened the first frozen yogurt store in Texas before joining his wife as a stockbroker. They worked together for more than 40 years in Austin. 

Johnny K. Richardson, age 70, of Jefferson City, on Oct. 9, 2024. Richardson graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. He practiced with Brydon, Swearengen & England P.C. in Jefferson City for 44 years, including in general civil litigation and trial and appellate work for clients. 

Evan Granrath Ridenour, age 37, of Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 26, 2022. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2012. He spent several years as a contract lawyer and later as a supervisor with UnitedLex. He then worked as legal counsel for the Portland Memorial Hospital. 

Hon. James William “Bill” Roberts, age 92, of Overland Park, Kansas, on Jan. 20, 2025. Roberts graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1959. Roberts practiced law in St. Joseph as a partner at Strop, Roberts, Thomas, and Burns. In 1988, he was elected as a judge to the 5th Circuit Court in Buchanan County and served on the bench until 2000. 

Thomas Rost, age 80, of Jefferson City, on Sept. 28, 2024. Rost graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1973. He worked as an assistant prosecutor in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office and the St. Louis law firm Coburn, Croft, Shepherd, and Herzog before starting his own practice in Jefferson City. Rost served in the U.S. Army. 

John Schmidt, age 89, of Tequesta, Florida, on May 1, 2019. Schmidt graduated from the Northwestern University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. He was a lawyer at Butler Brothers in Chicago and group vice president of City Products/Household Finance. Schmidt then worked in private practice in Kansas City. He served in the U.S. Army. 

Hon. David Wesley Shinn, age 92, of Kansas City, on Dec. 7, 2024. Shinn graduated from the William Mitchell College of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. He worked for 25 years at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Shinn served as a judge in the 16th Circuit Court in Jackson County for 20 years. 

Eleanor P. Simpson, age 79, of Creve Coeur, on April 17, 2024. Simpson graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1983. 

James H. Snowden, age 61, of Quincy, Illinois, on March 26, 2019. Snowden graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1983. He practiced briefly in the firm of Keefe, Snowden, Gorman and Brennan. He was a professor at Cedarville University before joining his father as a partner at Snowden and Snowden.

Joshua Bolds Stegeman, age 44, of St. Louis, on Dec. 29, 2022. Stegeman graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2006. 

Hon. Keith M. Sutherland, age 79, of Warrenton, on Aug. 21, 2024. Sutherland graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1973. He served as prosecuting attorney and then associate circuit judge of Warren County. He served as the elected presiding judge of Missouri’s 12th Judicial Circuit for 12 years and as a senior judge until June 2024. Sutherland served in the U.S. Army. 

Ralph Wasik, age 75, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 22, 2024. Wasik graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. He practiced law in Des Moines, Iowa, and St. Louis before returning to Cedar Rapids, where he joined his family’s business, Rapids Reproductions. Wasik served in the U.S. Army Reserves. 

William Parsons Whitaker, age 85, of Leawood, Kansas, on Oct. 22, 2024. Whitaker graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1967. He practiced for 33 years in the Kansas City area and cofounded Proteon Therapeutics, Inc., Metactive Medical, Inc., and Flow Forward, Inc. 

Hon. Douglas Gedge White, age 76, of Kingsport, Tennessee, on Sept. 20, 2023. White graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1972. He served in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He worked for the government for 45 years and retired after 21 years as an administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration. 

Hon. Melvyn Wade Wiesman, age 85, of St. Louis, on Sept. 30, 2024. He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. He had a 42-year judicial career, including serving as St. Louis County magistrate judge and circuit judge. 

Richard Kristin Weaver, age 75, of Dallas, Texas, on June 16, 2024. Weaver was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1978. 

Felix Bickerton Winston, age 93, of Independence, on Aug. 4, 2024. Winston graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1957. He spent more than 50 years as a lawyer in Kansas City. Winston served in the U.S. Army. 

Aaron Neil Woods, age 59, of Lee’s Summit, on Dec. 21, 2024. Woods graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1990. He focused his practice on representing clients in personal injury matters.