In memoriam: September-October 2026

Hon. David Perry Anderson, age 94, of Springfield, on April 20, 2026. Anderson graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1958. He was an assistant prosecuting attorney and district director of the U.S. Census in 1960. He was an associate circuit judge then circuit judge in Greene County. He served as a senior judge until 2004. Anderson served in the U.S. Air Force.

Brian Andrew, age 74, of Chesterfield, on June 11, 2026. Andrew was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1978.

Diana Brazeale, age 54, of Branson, on July 6, 2026. Brazeale graduated from Cornell Law School and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1997. She was a litigation associate with Lewis, Rice & Fingersh before establishing her solo practice in Branson, specializing in bankruptcy, business law, real estate law, and probate.

James C. Busch, age 82, of Glendale, on June 6, 2026. Busch graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1976. He spent his career in private and public practice, retiring as an assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County. Busch served in the U.S. Army.

John Joseph Charron, age 77, of Webster Groves, on July 18, 2026. Charron graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1973. He spent decades practicing in St. Louis County as an estate and general practice lawyer.

Michael Wade Clark, age 78, of Washington, on May 11, 2026. Clark graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1978. He was a public defender in Jefferson and Franklin counties for 12 years before entering private practice for 35 years.

Jack David Cooper, age 96, of Lenexa, Kansas, on June 3, 2026. Cooper graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1957. He was a certified property and casualty underwriter. Cooper worked 33 years for the Employers Reinsurance Corporation in Kansas City and Atlanta. He served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Eugene Daniel “Gene” Cross, age 64, of Mount Carmel, Illinois, on May 22, 2026. He graduated from the Edinburgh Law School and joined the faculty at Leiden University. Cross was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1986. He worked with his wife on humanitarian aid projects providing technical assistance to governments of more than 30 countries. He was a senior fellow at the international Institute of Energy Law, was senior scientist at the Energie Centrum Nederland, and was a senior policy analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris.

Hon. Raymond H. “Ray” Dickhaner, age 76, of Arnold, on June 28, 2026. He graduated from the Washington University School of Law, earned a Master of Laws degree from the Washington University School of Law, and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1974. He was legal counsel for Jefferson County 911, was the founding judge of the Jefferson County Municipal Court, and served as an associate circuit judge for Division 11.

Robert S. Drake Jr., age 87, of Springfield, on Nov. 13, 2025. Drake graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1963. Drake was Benton County prosecuting attorney and city attorney for Warsaw and Lincoln.

Joseph Ray Ebbert, age 69, of Lenexa, Kansas, on Feb. 9, 2026. Ebbert graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1989. He had a legal career across Kansas and Missouri spanning decades.

Richard Francis Engel, age 73, of Princeton Junction, New Jersey, on March 2, 2026. Engel graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1978. He worked in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, then worked for the State of New Jersey for 45 years.

James E. Godfrey Jr., age 66, of St. Louis, on June 14, 2026. Godfrey graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1985. He spent 20-plus years at Evans and Dixon LLC, serving as a partner. He was a trial lawyer and tried about 300 cases to conclusion over his career.

Hon. Gary Wayne Henry, age 79, of Louisburg, Kansas, on June 15, 2026. Henry graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1974. He practiced law in Cass County for 30 years and served as associate circuit judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit (Cass County). Henry served in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Virgil B. Hill, age 86, of Chesterfield, on Nov. 24, 2025. Hill graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1971. Hill was a chemist for the Food and Drug Administration, then spent years working in research and development. He had a long tenure as a patent lawyer at Ralston Purina. He served in the U.S. Army and the National Guard.

Raymond Robert Hirsch, age 90, of Bonita Springs, Florida, on July 22, 2026. He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1959. He was a corporate lawyer and served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Stuart Irwin Kaufman, age 89, of Chesterfield, on May 27, 2025. Kaufman was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1961.

Hon. Kathryn Koch, age 67, of University City, on June 3, 2026. Koch graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1984. She was a litigator with Husch & Eppenberger (now Husch Blackwell) until 2000. She also was a prosecutor in Olivette and a municipal judge in Ballwin. After leaving Husch & Eppenberger, she became of counsel with Goldstein & Pressman.

Richard A. Koehler, age 85, of Butler, on March 4, 2026. Koehler was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1974.

Hon. Harold L. Lowenstein, age 86, of Kansas City, on July 22, 2026. Lowenstein graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1965. He practiced with a Kansas City law firm, then was an assistant attorney general. He served five terms in the Missouri House of Representatives and as a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, for 28 years.

Jean Ann Maylack, age 69, of Clayton, on May 6, 2026. Maylack graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1982. She completed a master’s degree in tax law at George Washington University Law School and had a law career in Clayton.

Hon. William Jerome McHugh Sr., age 79, of St. Louis, on May 8, 2026. McHugh graduated from the Drake University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1975. He was a staff attorney then chief warrant officer in the Juvenile Division of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court. He served as a municipal court judge for the City of St. Louis. He worked at the Law Office of Wayne C. Harvey and in the partnership of Caldwell, Hughes, McHugh, and Singleton before starting his own private practice.

Larry Leroy McMullen, age 94, of Kansas City, on July 8, 2026. McMullen graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1959. He worked at Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary and Lombardi, now Husch Blackwell, for more than 60 years. McMullen served in the U.S. Navy.

Mary G. Murdock, age 98, of Columbia, on April 16, 2026. Murdock graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1953. She practiced law with Warrick, Brewer, Lamkin, and Myers, and later retired from the Jackson County Counselor’s office.

Ronald Edwin Parsons, age 95, of Bentonville, Virginia, on May 30, 2026. He graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1982. He worked in private practice with an emphasis on Social Security disability. Parsons served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Steven Passer, age 68, of Overland Park, Kansas, on April 15, 2026. Passer graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1992. He joined the Kansas City firm of Payne & Jones in 1991 and remained a principal there for the rest of his career. He also was a certified special education due process hearing officer for the State of Kansas.

Jean Bowling Quenon, age 95, of Kenwood, California, on May 4, 2026. Quenon graduated from the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1979. She was a solo practitioner and Ladue mayor.

Hon. Nicholas J. Riggio Sr., age 95, of St. Louis, on April 18, 2026. Riggio graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1960. He practiced law for 60 years and was also a real estate agent, travel agent, and judge. Riggio served in the U.S. Air Force.

Leo G. “Gary” Stoff Jr., age 81, of St. Louis, on July 11, 2026. Stoff graduated from the Notre Dame Law School and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1969. He had a long career as a corporate lawyer and was the director of elections for the City of St. Louis.

Kathy Jo Sullivan-Trader, age 72, of Lee’s Summit, on June 8, 2026. Sullivan-Trader graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 2001. She worked at Sprint then practiced law alongside her husband at the law firm of Trader & Sullivan LLC.

Charles Webb Taylor, age 57, of St. Charles, on Aug. 3, 2026. Taylor graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1994. He started his career at the Cape Girardeau County Public Defender Office in Jackson. He then worked at the Law Office of Rory Ellinger in O’Fallon. In 2003, he opened his own practice, The Taylor Law Firm, P.C., handling bankruptcy, estate planning, traffic, and family law cases.

Robert Wexler, age 86, of Chesterfield, on July 23, 2026. Wexler graduated from the Washington University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1966. He practiced corporate law for more than 40 years.

Jason Paul Wiske, age 55, of Pittsburg, Kansas, on Nov. 3, 2025. Wiske graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1998. He opened his own law practice in Pittsburg.

Eric G. Zahnd, age 58, of Platte City, on Sept. 17, 2026. Zahnd was Platte County prosecuting attorney and previously worked at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, the Missouri Governor’s Commission on Crime, and Bryan Cave. He graduated from Duke Law School and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1996.

William J. Zollmann III, age 82, of Wentzville, on May 24, 2026. Zollmann graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1967. He was Wentzville city attorney and maintained law offices in St. Charles and Dutzow, specializing in estate planning and real estate law.