In Memoriam, November - December 2023

Jerry Courtney Bowlin, age 81, of Kansas City, on Feb. 1, 2023. Bowlin was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1968.

Anita L. Burns, age 54, of Kearney, on Aug. 29, 2023. Burns was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1987.

Howard K. Butler Jr., age 54, of Sunrise, FL, on Nov. 21, 2022. Butler was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1995.

Hon. James F. Davis, age 74, of Shawnee, KS, on Nov. 13, 2022. Davis was a partner with Lewis Rice & Fingersh LLC before serving as a judge on the Kansas District Court for 26 years in Johnson County. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975.

Thomas F. Fisher, age 80, of Kansas City, on Oct. 29, 2023. Fisher earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1967. After a stint in the Jackson County prosecutor’s office, Fisher joined the law firm of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy. Fisher served in the U.S. Navy.

Hon. Kathleen Forsyth, age 76, of Kansas City, on Oct. 13, 2023. Forsyth practiced at several local firms, including Shughart Thompson & Kilroy as a partner. In 2003, she was appointed as circuit judge to the 16th circuit court. She was a judge of the probate division before retiring and serving as a contributing writer to Thomson Reuters. Forsyth attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980.

Hon. Robert T. Hart, age 84, of St. Louis, on Aug. 9, 2023. Hart attended Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. Hart practiced workers’ compensation law and was later a judge.

Hon. Alan Harriss, age 75, of Ironton, on July 30, 2023. Harriss earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. He practiced law in the Arcadia Valley the majority of his adult life, including as assistant prosecuting attorney and prosecuting attorney. Harriss served as associate circuit court judge for Iron County from 1991 to 2000.

Robert L. (Bob) Jackson, age 82, of Clayton, on Feb. 11, 2023. Jackson attended New York University Law School, where he later taught. After clerking in the U.S. tax court, Jackson practiced tax law in St. Louis for over 50 years. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1969.

Russell Dan Jacobson, age 93, of Kansas City, on July 6, 2023. Jacobson was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1959.

Hon. Kent E. Karohl, age 88, of Lady Lake, FL, on Sept. 20, 2023. In addition to private practice, Karohl served as a judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, from 1982 to 2000. He earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1958.

Paul A. Kirk, age 81, of Springfield, on July 20, 2023. Kirk earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1972. He served in the U.S. Army.

Hugh D. Kranitz, age 72, of St. Joseph, on Aug. 13, 2023. Kranitz attended the University of Puget Sound Law School in Seattle, WA, before returning to St. Joseph to join the family firm of Kranitz & Kranitz. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. Kranitz served in the U.S. Army.

James Dennis Laster, age 75, of Jacksonville Beach, FL, on May 23, 2023. Laster served in the U.S. Navy and was a department head at the University of Central Missouri before attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and being admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1985. He served as Cass County prosecuting attorney and municipal judge for Knob Noster, among other roles.

Hon. Arthur Litz, age 100, of St. Louis, on Aug. 19, 2023. Litz earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and practiced in St. Louis until 1975, when he was appointed as a circuit judge. He retired from the bench in 1993 before serving as a mediator until 2013.

Hon. Reginald (Regi) Lynn Martin, age 63, of Springfield, on Feb. 16, 2023. Martin most recently practiced family law and served as a Greene County circuit judge. She obtained her J.D. from Southern Methodist University and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2007.

James L. McMullin, age 96, of Raytown, on Aug. 29, 2023. McMullin served in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, including as a legal officer trying cases as both prosecutor or defense counsel in general court martials both in Korea and Japan. McMullin attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City and practiced law for over 60 years.

Jerome E. Murphy, age 75, of Kansas City, on May 20, 2023. Murphy was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1973 and practiced with Martin Pringle Attorneys at Law.

Lee M. Nation, age 71, of Flagstaff, AZ, on Sept. 23, 2023. Nation earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and joined The Missouri Bar in 1975. Nation argued before the Supreme Court of the United States and practiced criminal defense with Nation and Curley. He later practiced in Arizona and taught at Northern Arizona University.

John Russell O’Malley, age 75, of Kansas City, on Oct. 2, 2023. O’Malley attended Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1973. In addition to private practice, he served as assistant city counselor in St. Louis; a prosecutor in Grandview; an instructor at several colleges; on the circuit court of Jackson County; and as a federal U.S. immigration judge. O’Malley served in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Hon. Wilbur T. Osborne, age 106, of Grant City, on Aug. 20, 2023. Osborne served in the U.S. Navy before attending the University of Missouri School of Law, though he took two Naval Reserve cruises during summer breaks. Osborne was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1949. He worked for Farmers Insurance Group until 1978, at which point he began an eight-year term as associate circuit judge in Worth County.

Gene Overall, age 74, of St. Louis, on Aug. 21, 2023. Overall earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1980. He practiced law with St. Louis County and later served as the sheriff of St. Louis County. Overall also taught at Lindenwood University.

Scott W. Owens, age 58, of Kansas City, on Sept. 30, 2023. Owens earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1992, and practiced bankruptcy law at Owens Law Office.

James Kenneth Pendleton, age 92, of San Antonio, TX, on July 19, 2023. Pendleton was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1959.

Hon. Anthony J. Romano Sr., age 91, of Independence, on Sept. 12, 2023. Romano was in private practice for 20 years before serving as a judge on the Jackson County circuit court. Romano served as assistant Jackson County prosecutor, assistant Jackson County counselor, and assistant Missouri attorney general. He earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1956.

John L. Rooney, age 74, of St. Louis, on Oct. 2, 2023. Rooney attended Fernando Valley College of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1981. He practiced personal injury and general liability law, specializing in representing members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers under the Federal Employers' Liability Act.

Melvin A. (Mel) Saferstein, age 83, of Huron, OH, on April 27, 2022. Saferstein earned his J.D. from the University of Kansas and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1966. He practiced criminal law briefly in St. Joseph and was most recently with Smith & Lehrer Law Firm.

Robert Louis Sweney, age 95, of St. Louis, on Oct. 19, 2023. Sweney earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1951. He practiced banking law, most recently as a partner at Bryan Cave.

Merrill R. Talpers, age 91, of Kansas City, on Oct. 4, 2023. Talpers worked for the Internal Revenue Service and in private practice before forming Olsen & Talpers. He served with the Judge Advocate Corps at the Wichita Falls Air Force Base and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1964.

Lloyd J. (Jack) Vasquez Jr., age 76, of St. Louis, on Jan. 12, 2022. Vasquez earned his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and worked with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1983.

Sandra Lee Wallace, age 64, of Columbia, on Oct. 13, 2023. Wallace attended the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1984. Wallace was most recently employed with the office of the general counsel in the Social Security Administration’s Kansas City Region.

Hannah Woofter, age 34, of Kansas City, on Oct. 29, 2023. Woofter received her J.D. from Washburn University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2018. She practiced civil litigation, family law, insurance defense, and general liability.