April 2021 GW Law Updates In Memoriam

William R. Kearney, JD '51 
William R. Kearney "Bill" passed away at age 96 on February 21, 2021. During World War II, he served in the Navy as a rescue swimmer where he saved numerous downed American fighter pilots. After the war, Mr. Kearney had his own law practice in Rockville, MD. He also served in the Army Reserve JAG Corps and rose to the rank of colonel. He proudly ended his law career as an administrative law judge for the Defense Department. He enjoyed being legal counsel for the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department where he was made an honorary member. 

Vaden S. Pitts, JD ‘52, LLM '53
Vaden Pitts of Port Saint Lucie, FL passed away on January 16, 2021, at age 97. He served in the Army Air Force during World War II and was a member of the 457th Bomb Group, flying 33 missions over Europe. He practiced law in Washington, DC. 

William C. Hise, JD '54
William Curt Hise, Colonel USAF (Ret.), of Arlington, VA passed away on February 11, 2021. Mr. Hise served in World War II and the Korean War and also joined and served in the DC National Guard (Air Force). 

Robert M. Lucy, JD '54
Robert M. Lucy, passed away on January 20, 2021, at the age of 94. He received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy where he graduated in three years in 1947. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, he completed overseas deployments in China, Korea, Okinawa, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam. He would continue to serve in both infantry and legal posts. Retiring as a colonel after 27 years of service, he served his last position as the legal advisor and legislative assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Thomas Moorer. Among other awards, he received the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star. After retirement from the Marine Corps, he began a second 24-year career as a partner at Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis, MO where he did corporate litigation and mentored many young lawyers. He retired for the second time at the age of 72. 

Edgar Bellinger, JD '55
Edgar Thomson Bellinger of Oxford, MD passed away on March 31, 2021, at age 91. After law school, he served as Law Clerk to the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for District of Columbia. He then served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. After leaving government service, he joined the firm of Pope, Ballard, and Loos and later the firm of Zuckert, Scoutt, and Rasenberger, before starting his own firm in Easton, MD.

Ralph S. Kendall, LLB '56
Ralph S. Kendall, 93, passed away on Sunday, February 21, 2021, in Grand Rapids, MI. He served in Japan as a radio repairman for the US Army in the aftermath of World War II. He spent his career working as a patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC. 

Melvin Struthers, Jr., JD ‘56
Melvin "Mel" Struthers Jr. passed away on January 4, 2021. During the Korean War, he served in the United States Army in Germany. After leaving subsequent government positions, including a stint as an investigator for the Small Business Administration, Mr. Struthers settled in Cedar Rapids, where he helped establish the First Small Business Loan Co. in Eastern Iowa, and then became the in-house counsel for a consortium of financial institutions. 

William Mammarella, JD '57    
William Carmen Mammarella, 92, died at his Bethany Beach, DE home Friday, February 26, 2021. After his Army service as a first lieutenant in the 50th Anti Aircraft Artillery AW Battalion in Korea, he earned his law degree via the GI Bill, which led to 30 years at federal agencies, including Health Education & Welfare where his team enforced school desegregation, and the Interstate Commerce Commission.  

Peter S. Taylor, BBL '62
Peter Sargent Taylor passed away on December 24, 2020, in Arlington County, VA. After graduating from GW Law, Mr. Taylor joined the law firm of Friedman & Lipschultz where he was in private practice for several years, before joining the federal government. In 1971, he began working at the U.S. Department of the Interior and became involved in Native American affairs. He initially worked in the Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior as the Co-Director of the Indian Civil Rights Task Force. In 1975, Mr. Taylor was recruited to work on the American Indian Policy Review Commission (AIPRC), a Joint Congressional Commission established to study federal Indian policy and law. Within the AIPRC, he acted as the Chairman of the Task Force on Indian Law Revision, Consolidation, and Codification. In 1977, Mr. Taylor began working on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. He worked on the Committee on Indian Affairs in the capacity of Special Counsel, General Counsel, Senior Counsel, and Staff Director. After his retirement from federal government service, Mr. Taylor became a member of the Ducheneaux, Taylor & Assoc. lobbying firm.

Kenneth G. Preston, JD '63
Kenneth George Preston, Jr., age 88, passed away in Akron, OH on Friday, February 19, 2021. While working for the US Patent Office and Department of the Navy in Washington, DC, he graduated from GW Law. He worked in the law offices of Hupp Corp and Eaton Corp and then served as Vice President, Senior Counsel, and Chief Patent Counsel for TRW Inc. in Cleveland, OH. In 1990, Mr. Preston joined the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL as Director of Technology Transfer. In 2001, he moved back to Ohio to join the University of Akron as the Associate Vice President for Research and Director of Technology Transfer for the University of Akron, as well as the Vice President and Executive Director of the University of Akron Research Foundation where he remained. 

Kim Lay Tjoa, MA of Comp Law Foreign Practice '64
Kim Lay Tjoa, 83, passed away on February 28, 2021, in Seattle, WA. 

Leon Choate, Jr., JD '65
Leon Choate Jr, 80, of New York City, passed away on March 19, 2021. Mr. Choate spent the majority of his legal career as a partner at Putney Twombley, prior to founding Choate and Seletski upon his retirement. 

Ross F. Hunt, Jr., LLB '66
Ross Franklin Hunt Jr. passed away on January 27, 2021. He worked at the US Patent and Trademark Office and later practiced intellectual property law. Mr. Hunt was a partner at the law firm Larson and Taylor, which later merged to become Stites and Harbison in Old Town Alexandria. 

Anthony J. Diamond, LLB '66
Anthony J Diamond passed away on December 29, 2020. He served with the US Army Intelligence in Vietnam. He was named a Reginald Heber fellow and worked with Legal Services before opening Diamond & Diamond with his sister where he practiced until his retirement. Mr. Diamond practiced law for over 35 years, with the majority of time spent practicing Workers' Compensation and Personal Injury Law. 

Edward A. Greene, LLB '67
Edward Greene passed away on March 27, 2021. After serving in the US Navy, Mr. Greene joined the second class of Peace Corps Volunteers in 1962. He worked for the Department of Treasury, the US Export-Import Bank, the First National Bank of Chicago, Bankers Trust, and First Washington Associates supporting international development projects. 

Alan Kosloff, JD '71    
Alan Marshall Kosloff, passed away at age 74 on Sunday, March 7, 2021. Before entering private practice in 1981, Mr. Kosloff served as Staff Attorney to the United States Environmental Protection Agency; General Counsel to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection; Acting Director of Solid Waste Management for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection; and Assistant Attorney General, State of Connecticut. He taught at the University of Connecticut School of Law and was the Director of the Energy and Environmental Law Practice Clinic. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Environmental Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Chairman of the Bristol Property Renewal Corporation. While in private practice, he assisted clients in a variety of areas, including compliance, litigation, and transactional work, notably championing alternate energy production and shepherding the Oxford Energy Tires to Energy project. 

Herbert Howard Mintz, JD '71
Herbert Howard Mintz passed away on February 27, 2021, at 74. Mr. Mintz served as a law clerk to a federal appellate judge before joining the patent law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner. He spent his entire career practicing patent litigation, including an appearance before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Mintz also was a composer of many children and adult musicals along with his dear friend and creative partner, Frank DiCostanzo (Joan) who wrote the book and lyrics. 

Oscar Clayton Lilienstern, LLM '72
O. Clayton "Clay" Lilienstern of Bellaire, TX passed away January 11, 2021, at the age of 77. He served in the US Army for four years, as Captain, Judge Advocate General's Corps. During his posting to the Pentagon, Mr. Lilienstern received an LLM degree from George Washington University. He began his civilian legal career with Andrews Kurth LLP. During his tenure with Andrews Kurth, Mr. Lilienstern worked on many complex litigation cases, including the Howard Hughes estate case for which he would eventually appear before the United States Supreme Court. After helping lead Andrews Kurth for 25 years, he co-founded Hicks Thomas & Lilienstern LLP in 1997. Mr. Lilienstern began a second career as an educator at Episcopal High School in Houston, where he served as a history and economics teacher and Assistant Head of School. He then became Head of School for University School of Jackson in Jackson, TN. After returning to Bellaire, Mr. Lilienstern continued to serve, this time as a member of the Harris County Appraisal Review Board. 

Lester Cannain, LLM '73  
Lester C. Cannain of Albuquerque, NM passed away January 2, 2021. He spent 20 years in the US Air Force and retired as a Major in 1986. Afterward, he practiced primarily contract law in Albuquerque for 15 years. 

Carol Judith Neustadt, JD '74
Carol Judith Neustadt, 76, of Tall Timbers, MD passed away on January 12, 2021. Ms. Neustadt attended night classes at George Washington University Law School receiving a JD in 1974, where she earned membership in the Order of the Coif. She worked for 35 years at the Federal Maritime Commission. 

Stephen R. Walker, JD '75
Stephen Russell Walker passed away on February 25, 2021, in California. 

Stephen D Johnson, JD '76
Stephen Decatur Johnson of Takoma Park, MD passed away on February 23, 2021. He worked for the Department of Commerce, doing immigration law and then family law with his partner/wife of 40 years, Deborah Luxenberg. 

John T. Westermeier, Jr., LLM '78
On Tuesday, December 22, 2020, John Thomas "Jay" Westermeier passed away at his home in Williamsburg, VA. Mr. Westermeier served his country dutifully and honorably for close to 40 years in the Army and Army Reserves, retiring with the rank of Colonel in 2001. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, receiving the Bronze Star along with other decorations. In his 41 years of professional service as a lawyer, Mr. Westermeier was an accomplished author; public speaker, both in the United States and overseas; and expert witness on intellectual property legal matters. After serving as a partner in his own private law practice for several years, Mr. Westermeier was a partner in various law firms in the Washington DC area, eventually retiring from practice in 2015.   

Lee M Kutner, JD '80
Lee Moss Kutner, 65, of Denver, CO passed away on December 18, 2020. Mr. Kutner became the primary shareholder in Kutner Brinen, PC where he enjoyed 37 years practicing corporate reorganization and bankruptcy law with his partner and friend Jeff Brinen. He pushed the practice of bankruptcy law forward, setting precedent, speaking at conferences, and publishing chapters in respected legal texts.