Reflections at Journey’s End: Memorial Minutes Volume Iii 1980–1999

By York County Bar Association and J. Ross McGinnis

A compelling series of insightful biographical sketches of the men and women of the York County Bar commencing eleven years before the start of the Civil War as recounted by contemporaries and colleagues. Candid, sincere, honest, and on occasion with a touch of comic relief, these memorial minutes are tributes to those who have made their rendezvous with mortality.
Found within these volumes is the venerable Jeremiah S. Black who walked the corridors of national recognition during the Civil War era; the urbane and brilliant Herbert B. Cohen who wielded substantial political power throughout the commonwealth and rose to become an associate justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court; and the charismatic Harvey Gross whose superb advocacy in the third Hex trial and subsequent twenty-year tenure on the York County Orphans’ Court placed him in the forefront of the princes of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence.
This “callout” of the giants in no way diminishes the significance, commitment, and integrity of the many other remarkable individuals who came after and counseled and inspired others to live honestly, to exercise compassion, and to act with prudence and diligence, and above all else made their contribution to the vast and diverse panorama of our humanity.
Not a typical memoir or story, these memorial minutes constitute the defining epic of the York County Bar. More than history, more than recitals of character and personality, more than delightful encounters and more somber content, they are about individuals remembered for the richness and power of their hopes, achievements, and commitments to the timeless values of the life of the law.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982214166

York County Bar Association

Compiled and forward by J. ROSS MCGINNIS. J. Ross McGinnis, attorney and author of “Trials of Hex,” was born in 1928 and was raised on a farm in southern York County. After graduating from Fawn Township Vocational High School in 1944, he attended York Collegiate Institute/York Junior College for one year. He then went to Princeton University, graduating in 1949 summa cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the Lawrence Hutton Prize in History, and was the co-recipient of the C.O. Jolene Prize in American Political History for his thesis on Henry Adams, the Sequence of the Democratic Force. He graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1952 and was given a direct commission in the U.S. Air Force. He became a staff judge advocate and, after two years, was discharged with the rank of Captain. Since 1954, he has been a practicing attorney in York County. He was President of the York County Bar, Moderator of Donegal Presbytery, and a life member of the Salvation Army. He is currently “of counsel” for the law firm of Stock and Leader in York, Pennsylvania.

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Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgements

1980–1989

William W. Wogan

John T. Logan

J. Richard Budding

Judge Spencer R. Liverant

Paul E. Stein

Mattie M. Chapman

Richard P. Noll

James B. Leckrone

Henry C. Kessler, Jr.

Harry C. Stitt, Jr.

John M. Boddington

Michael Phillip Loucks

Judge Gordon A. Roe

Judge Robert I. Shadle

P. Nelson Alexander

Jesse L. Crabbs

Basil A. Shorb

Lewis Pierce Sterling

Judson E. Ruch

1990–1999

Paul N. Yost

Carroll Abner Lingg

Horace E. Smith

W. Burg Anstine

Frank B. Boyle

John Carl Foster, Jr.

Nevin J. Trout

Ruth E. Robey

Judge John F. Rauhauser, Jr.

Edward H. H. Garber

Daniel James Flaherty

Patricia A. Butler

Victor Dell’alba

John R. Gailey, Jr.

Martin B. Ebbert

Nevin Stetler

T. Frederick Feldmann

Judge Richard E. Kohler

Donald E. Albright

Morton H. Kagen

William H. Kain

Norman R. Olewiler

Introduction

By J. Ross McGinnis

These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory…. The History of Herodotus.

With these lines, Herodotus opens his history and we believe them to be no less appropriate for the members of the York County Bar. No one can read these memorials and not echo the declaration of Judge Ray Sherwood when he said:

We direct that the minute for Lee S. Fake – 1941 be spread upon the records of this court as a part of the permanent history of a truly great bar. And again, He was a worthy member of a great county bar for Robert E. Frey – 1946.

And also the declaration of Judge Nevin Wanner for James Glessner – 1936 who said:

It is ordered that this minute he spread upon the records of this court as part of our permanent history of this really great bar.

The memorials of the York County Bar are a unique and unusual literary genre that got underway in 1850 and still continues in a much more verbose contemporary format. While the memorials cannot claim the soaring rhetoric of a Pericles’ funeral oration or plumb the depths of a Hamlet death soliloquy, they compel more attention and interest than the typical obituary recording the death of prominent people.

The memorial commences with the bar president announcing the name of the deceased and then an introduction of the partner or close friend who presents the minute which is primarily a brief biography accompanied by some personal references and a motion to adopt. This minute is followed by seconds by friends and associates who enlarge upon the personal and professional character of the departed and highlight their observations with anecdotal references.

Only members of the bar may speak. This limitation was imposed only recently and, in all likelihood, was the result of two non-lawyers introducing what might be described as lengthy, extraneous comments and resolutions in one of the memorials. A verbatim transcript of the memorial is made by a court reporter. For purposes of clarity, we define minute, as the single resolution or opening statement. When observations or comments are added, the more inclusive term memorial is used.

The thread that is common throughout all the memorials is the court order coming at the end directing that the memorial in its entirety be made a permanent part of the court’s record and that a copy be forwarded to the decedent’s family; the inference being that this will impart an element of immortality and add greater significance to the decedent’s life.

There is one notable exception to the universal policy of limiting these memorials to members of the York County Bar.

In 1881, The Honorable Thomas E. Cochran, in a short but appropriate address spoke of the death of President Garfield at the hands of an assassin as a great national calamity, calling upon all to pause and reflect; to consider how much each had contributed toward the culmination of crime which ended the life of this great man; concluding with a motion to the court to adjourn out of respect to the chief magistrate of the country. Mr. Chapman in a few pertinent remarks seconded the motion.

"His honor, Judge Wickes, said in reply, That the sensibilities of the Court had been deeply moved by the death of the Chief Magistrate of the nation – that there was a peculiar sadness about this death, which has evoked the profoundest sympathy and grief of all, without regard to party or section. It was creditable to the country that its citizens could forget all, in the presence of this great sorrow, remembering only that the President of the United States has fallen in the midst of his official career, under circumstances deeply distressing. It is proper we should all pause in our business pursuits, and pay whatever tribute of respect is possible to his memory.

It is therefore ordered that this Court stand adjourned until tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock, and that this proceeding be entered upon its records."

On a cool, crisp Friday afternoon in November 1963, Judson Ruch, Esquire opened the door to Courtroom #1 interrupting a trial in progress – President Judge George W. Atkins presiding – and announced to all of us present in the room, Your honor, President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas, Texas. The Judge responded by saying, Out of respect for the memory of the President, Court will be adjourned until Monday morning.

In the early years, the memorial consisted of a formally drafted resolution employing a heavy, baroque style language – what could be described as a true minute.

Over time, the minute along with accompanying observations has evolved into a much more comprehensive tribute, heavily freighted with character descriptions and philosophies of life – a true memorial cast against the horizon of death.

The early minutes were handwritten, difficult to interpret and somewhat spartan in substance and ended up in the dust bin of the Prothonotary’s records tucked away in the County’s archives repository at Stony Brook, virtually inaccessible. Over the years, the great bulk of the memorials have been scattered throughout the numerous volumes of the York Legal Record following no discernable order except the date of presentation.

We have compiled all of the memorials (including the early resolutions and minutes) in the order in which they were given in a single collection of multiple volumes making them readily accessible and available.

They are an important record of men and women who were not only prominent members of our bar and in the legal profession, but were significant contributors to the community, whose lives made a substantial impact on the broad sweep of community life and character. For that, we must always be not only proud, but grateful.

Because of the brevity of the early memorials, we have inserted excerpts from biographical personal sketches where they could be found in the two outstanding York County Histories – John Gibson – 1886 and the two volume Prowell - 1907.

Unfortunately, there were some very prominent lawyers and judges whose lives were not memorialized, either because the practice was not in place when they died or the result of neglect or choice.

Hugh Brackenridge was the college classmate of James Madison – Princeton, 1771 – lived for a time in Peach Bottom Township near the Mason-Dixon Line and was, in addition to being a lawyer, a literary figure of some stature in the early years of the nation’s history.

James Smith was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.

Robert Fisher served thirty years as President Judge during the mid-nineteenth century and as a result of his persuasive advocacy, the Confederate General Jubal D. Early whose columns marched through York on the eve of the Battle of

Gettysburg, did not torch the courthouse records.

Edward Chapin, Sr. is the only exception to our general policy of not including anyone who did not have a memorial. He was a lawyer of some note in the mid-nineteenth century and the father of Edward Chapin who did have a memorial.

In the twentieth century, there is no memorial for Norman Petow – considered by some to have been the Bar’s reigning cynic and who famously said in his prelude to the memorial for Charles H. Still, I have attended many of these ceremonies where we pay tribute to the members of the bar who have passed on. I suppose that if somebody in the future, some historian would examine the rolls of this court, they would probably think that all the angels had descended at some time or other, to become members of the York County Bar. ¹

McClean Stock wanted no memorial, but his wishes were never reduced to writing and a very fine and generous memorial materialized out of nowhere, the author unknown.

In a similar vein, his law partner, Henry Leader, had often expressed his opposition to a memorial. But again, there was no written record of this position; his four daughters asked for a memorial and a ceremony was held.

Judge Walter Anderson asked that his minute be confined to a memorial tribute as a record of this court. For this reason, the members of the bar generally have not been requested to attend. Leo Gribbin, President of the Bar, for Judge Walter Anderson – 1977.

Again quoting Jeffrey Bortner’s delightful little book – Commentaries for Lawyers & Ilk - Over the years, several have given such instruction (no minute upon my death). The one that lingers in my mind was that of Paul Stein, using words by Alfred Lord Tennyson in clever double entendre directed: Sunset and evening star and one clear call for me and let there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to sea.

The occasion for the memorial not only promoted professional cohesion, it also afforded the opportunity to remember the dead and extol their virtues. Were they unduly laudatory? Why not? These were last rites and were intended to remind surviving colleagues that here was a model for everyone to emulate and re-examine their own values as suggested by Judge Albert Blakey when he spoke at Edward Garber’s memorial, He was a professional of these kind of ideals that we come here to renew – Judge Albert Blakey for Edward Garber – 1994 and Ronald

Hershner when he said at Henry Leader’s memorial, I can only hope that these moments of reflection in these minutes will remind us and those that follow us what it takes to be like Henry Leader, a truly exceptional in our profession. Ronald Hershner for Henry Leader – 2015.

Nor was aggressive advocacy any less a part of the practice of law in the twentieth century than in the nineteenth. In 1884, H. L. Fisher said of John Blackford, Our departed friend and I were antagonists in many a long and hard fought case in Court and before referees and arbitrators, and momentary asperities of temper were sometimes indulged in on both sides but I am happy to say that no protracted unfriendly feelings ever existed between us.

Tom Reed at Nevin Stetler’s memorial (1996) referred to a case where he and Nevin fought like tigers and Judge Ray Sherwood called them both to the bench and asked, Why do you two fight so much, aren’t you friends? Stetler replied, We are the best of friends Judge. We’re just helping our clients out here. I’m taking care of the state and he is taking care of his client.

In the Amos Herrmann memorial, Judge Ray Sherwood complimented

Herrmann as follows – During one week of that court, from Monday morning until Saturday night at nine o’clock, Mr. Herrmann tried three homicide cases and was successful in each one of them. That, I believe, was close to a record in the courts of our county for the expeditious manner in which district attorneys have facilitated the work of the court.

This was not only a record for the reason given by Judge Sherwood, these three homicide trials arising out of the Hex murder in Southern York County marked that week as historic in the broad sweep of the common law. Never before had there been such a cluster of homicide cases tried back to back in the brief time interval of one week. Even more significant, the first two trials concluded with first degree verdicts accompanied by sentences of life in prison, but against all odds, the third trial concluded with the verdict of second degree and ten years as a result of the inspired advocacy of the charismatic Harvey Gross.

At the conclusion of the third trial, Herrmann said, Mr. Gross, I want to thank you for saving the life of that boy (Wilbert Hess, one of the three accused defendants). Gross then turned to one of the reporters and made a statement of Delphic ambiguity – mankind reached its full stature here tonite. Gross was complementing the jury for a remarkable feat in the wake of two first degree verdicts and in a community saturated with witchcraft and pow wow publicity. Gross would go on to serve twenty years as Judge of the York County Orphans’ Court.

These memorials are a resume of unique personalities and relationships, a record of men and women who once upon a time walked the halls and used the marble stairs of the old Court House on East Market Street, peopled the courtrooms in earnest advocacy and argument, experienced triumph and defeat at the hands of indifferent juries and demanding judges.

In an era characterized by a growing number of women swelling the ranks of the profession in droves, it is noteworthy that no woman gained admission to the rolls of the dead until 1954 when Mary Jane Yohe was given a memorial.

Mary Jane was physically handicapped which prompted Walter Van Baman to say, This lady lived a life of daily bravery. The very sight of her was an inspiration to us. Judge Walter Anderson’s observation was notably prescient, I have no doubt that in the future there will be other members of the fair sex admitted to the Bar of York County, but I gravely question that there will ever be one who will be more beloved than was our gracious and friendly Mary Jane.

Mattie Chapman followed in 1982 and was distinguished not only as a woman, but also as an honorary member of the Bar and the first African-American to be given a memorial tribute (Judge Clarence Patterson, Jr. would be the second in 2011). Mattie was the unqualified favorite of all who knew her – an absolutely delightful person and to borrow briefly from Don Quixote, truly the lady of the cheerful countenance of the York County Prothonotary’s Office. Judge Buckingham said, I believe when Mattie passed, a light went out in this Court House.

Ruth Robey followed Mattie in 1993 and at her memorial, Judge Penny Blackwell gave one of the more thoughtful analyses of the nature and purpose of the occasion. This moment of respect that was given to Ruth Robey and has been given many times before and will be given many times in the future to other attorneys and judges, causes us to pause and reflect upon that person’s contribution to each of our lives.

After Ruth Robey, Patricia Butler’s death in 1996 prompted a vast outpouring of sorrow and grief demonstrating how deeply felt her loss was to her many colleagues and friends. Rees Griffiths summarized the multiple facets of her life and personality, When I think of Pat Butler, I reflect on a virtuous life filled with love and devotion for her husband and family, filled with dedicated service to her profession and her clients and filled with warm and unqualified friendship.

In 2015, Angela Dobrinoff-Blake died, the tragic victim of cancer at a very young age. At her memorial, Judge Andrea Marceca Strong described her as the incarnation of the words of Bessie Anderson Stanley’s poem of success, whose opening and closing lines are as follows, He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much….whose life was an inspiration, whose memory a benediction.

The sixth woman remembered and also the first woman elected to the York County bench in its entire history was Judge Sheryl Dorney who died in 2016. With a caustic but crisp nod to the past, Judge Maria Musti Cook summarized Judge

Dorney’s notable distinctions when she said, The Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas were established by the PA Constitution in 1776. In 1790, judicial districts were formed and the position of president judge was established as the head of common pleas courts. Based upon this history, it took the enlightened citizens of York County only 211 years to elect a woman to the common pleas bench. Whether you personally knew Judge Dorney or not, there can be no mistake that she was a trailblazer for women in the legal profession in York County and across the state and dare I say the nation, first by being the first female Assistant DA hired in 1975 and also by her election to the bench in the fall of 1987. And in between those two events and the years that followed her election to the bench, Judge Dorney dedicated herself to her profession.

And so women took their place along with men in that silent caravan which like the sacred river Alph winds through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea. ²

As would be expected, death was a constant presence, but when it occurred suddenly with no prior alarm, it was particularly intimidating and anomalous. A. C. Fulton collapsed in the courtroom in the turmoil of a will contest. His death was followed by this lament, But yesterday in the full flesh and vigor of manhood at its prime, he went in and amongst us and today lies cold and silent in death’s dark embrace – said of A. C. Fulton – 1892, and again, death is always tragic, and it is more keenly so when it comes with the swiftness of a lightening flash – Judge Ray Sherwood for Charles Still – 1957.

Many died in their early years or before anything like their full potential had been reached. When the Grim Reaper takes one of our members in the prime of life…it is a real tragedy to all of us. Judge Walter Anderson for Benjamin

Weinbrom – 1952. We lost her far too soon, Brian Strong for Angela Dobrinoff-Blake – 2015.

Death was considerate of Carroll Lingg, it came while he slept, and for Victor Dell’Alba, it came on the grassy slopes of a Florida golf course.

None of these deaths, even though proclaimed to be tragic and premature, could match the horror that engulfed Judge Gordon Roe. Recently elected to the bench at age 41, his prospects and potential stretched to the sky – his vistas unlimited; on a late spring day, pinned helplessly under farm equipment with his life slipping away – he died shortly thereafter as a result of his injuries – his death must rank near the top in the annals of human misfortunes. The saddest words in life are ‘what might have been.’ Lewis Markowitz for Judge Gordon Roe – 1988.

In responding to the death of a colleague, they were subconsciously dealing with the realization that their own lives were finite and that they too were destined inexorably and irrevocably and with absolute certainty to this same fate – that issues, problems and challenges that had seemed so important and monumental during their professional careers in the grand scheme of things were really trivial and insignificant.

The existentialist Jean-Paul Sarte in anguished protest proclaimed, it is absurd that we shall die, a sentiment affirmed by Judge Walter Anderson at the James Gerry memorial, one of the greatest tragedies of death is that the vast knowledge, experience, skill that one has spent a lifetime in acquiring ceases and passes into oblivion with the last heartbeat.

Cursed by the frailties of their mortality and finality, they turned to philosophy, literature and poetry attempting to learn something of the unknowable, to find meaning in mysteries and events beyond meaning, to reach out to worlds too obscure and distant to understand.

This fixation on death gave the memorials an impetus that was both clarifying and opaque, a frustration that was agonizing and profound, that added to and deepened the significance and meaning of life, as mirrored in the words spoken at the memorial for Major H. S. McNair – 1906, In the midst of life, we are in death – a thought amplified by Leo Tolstoy in his short but powerful novel – The Death of Ivan Ilyich where he argues that all life points to death, that a life is a value, but an incomplete value and that death is a natural corollary. In all of this one of the characters in the novel, the peasant Gerasim, interjects something of the pragmatic when he cries out, we all have to die someday.

In the words of Horace G. Port’s minute for Ralph Fisher (1958):

"Death is but a name, a date,

A milestone by the stormy road

Where you may lay aside your load

And bow your face and rest and wait,

Defying fear, defying fate."

In the words of W. Van Baman’s minute for Spencer Wareheim, and so Spencer Wareheim (1966) has taken the road to discover we must travel too. He was my friend, faithful and just to me.

And so he moves into eternity, eternity

Came he from one?

Goes he to one?

And is his life then but a fleck

of dust between the two

A fleck of dust

Who knows? Who knows?

and Judge Emanuel Cassimatis at Christian Ness’s memorial – 2001 reaching into the deep wells of his own Greek heritage, quoting Socrates, One must wait until the evening to see how bright the day has been, death really causes us to look back and see what a bright day his journey in life has been.

We cannot help but conclude that these memorials have about them a dimension that broadens and defines our history, heritage and even our humanity, a dimension that Judge John Uhler implied when he said at Nevin Stetler’s memorial – 1996 – These minutes are essential in memorializing and preserving for the remaining members of the Bar as well as history the greatness of those that have come before us.

To paraphrase the medieval scholastic, St. Bernard of Chartres, we are as dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants and thus we are able to see more and farther because we are carried aloft by the magnitude of the giants. For all their individuality, the contributions to these memorials form an eloquent and incisive whole that teaches how much there is to discover in the sober and creative thoughts and observations of the men and women of the York County Bar.

Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful for the help and support given me in this enterprise. Retired former President Judge John C. Uhler of the York County Court of Common Pleas initiated this work just as he energized the writing of Lawyers and Leaders, a York County Bar history in 2005. A fervent believer that the Bar Memorials are an integral part of York County Bar History, through Judge Uhler’s persuasion, the Bar Leaders agreed to fund this compilation. Judge Uhler’s spirit inspires all of us.

I have also greatly benefited from the participation of Victoria A. Connor, Chief Executive Officer of the York County Bar and Bar Foundation. She believed this publication to be an appropriate milestone marking the 136th anniversary of the York County Bar and the 25th anniversary of the York County Bar Foundation. By virtue of Ms. Connor’s suggestion that the memorials be structured by decades, they form a much more cohesive entity.

I am also indebted to the very competent and dedicated staff members of the York County Bar and Foundation, Cheryl Kauffman, Jennifer Mischke and Kendall Menzer, and intern Stephanie Bange, for their supervision and management of the host of technical issues.

I cannot say enough for the patience and excellence of the work of my very competent secretary, Geri Benzel, who managed to turn my handwritten legal sheets into very impressive manuscript. Fortunately, Geri takes to the current technology with ease and agility.

Heartfelt accolades must be assigned to the multitude of lawyers and judges, men and women, who over the decades gathered in formal judicial arenas where every word spoken was frozen for all time in transcripts – a ritual setting and a ritual procedure - and poured out their commentaries in deep and somber mourning for the passing of a colleague from life to death – call it rites of passage – call it reflections on journey’s end, call it whatever pleases your youth and fancy, this is their legacy for present and future generations.

The memorials speak for themselves, some of them with a touch of humor when the subject has been a universally recognized character, but by and large they are sober reflections by learned men and women on the rich and moving mosaic of a life at its termination.

- J. Ross McGinnis

1980–1989

***

WILLIAM W. WOGAN – OCTOBER 1980

PROCEEDINGS of the Bench and Bar of York County, Pennsylvania

Upon the Death of

WILLIAM W. WOGAN

Monday, October 27, 1980

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF YORK COUNTY,

PENNSYLVANIA

BEFORE THE HONORABLE Robert I. Shadle, President Judge

THE HONORABLE James E. Buckingham, Judge

THE HONORABLE Joseph E. Erb, Judge

THE HONORABLE Emanuel A. Cassimatis, Judge

JAMES A. HOLTZER, ESQUIRE, President, York County Bar:

May it please the Court, it is my unhappy task to advise the Court of the death of one of our members, William W. Wogan. His partner, Donald H. Yost, has a minute of respect today.

DONALD H. YOST, ESQUIRE:

MINUTE

Honored members of the Bench, Mr. President and officers of the Association, fellow practitioners of the York County Bar, I offer this minute of respect for our deceased colleague, my partner and friend, William W. Wogan.

Bill, as he was known to most of his friends, and "William,’ as he was referred to with affectionate formality by those most closely associated with him, was born November 26, 1909, and died on October 16, 1980. Of the intervening years, forty were devoted to the practice of law before this Bar. Much could be shared of William’s life as a devoted husband and father; as an active and faithful servant to his church and to his community. I would, however, recommend to those of us who have seen fit to assemble here today, and to those who might pause to read the record of these proceedings, that we remember William - the lawyer.

It is not without some misgivings that I present this minute. William from time to time expressed the desire that the record of his life as a lawyer be closed with his last breath. Upon reflection, I believe that this was but a desire born of his modesty - perhaps a perception that our tendency in these proceedings is to attempt to add measure to a colleague in death that was not to be found in life. In William’s case, l am convinced that this cannot be so. What we say here today can add not one mite at his death that was not of his life as a respected member of this Bar. Moreover, it is proper, if not compelling, that we honor men who have distinguished themselves in our profession. There appears at times to be little enough honor among ourselves, laying aside the seemingly lack of honor assigned to us by those we are committed to serve.

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William W. Wogan – 1980

Simple stated, William Wogan was a good lawyer, and as such he gathered respect not only for himself, but for our profession. For William, being a good lawyer meant only one thing - hard work. It meant a workday that started at six A.M. and ended only when the demands imposed upon himself for that day had been met. His days were never measured in terms of billable hours or moneys received. They were measured in effective work product. William’s reward for each day was a recognition that he had done his best, had a few hours left to spend with his beloved Mary Jane, and then contented sleep.

It was inevitable that for William economic reward would follow hard work. The thousand title searches whose notes reside in a hundred dusty composition books in the office closet, done for five or ten dollars each, led to his becoming York’s leading lawyer in creative real estate financing and general counsel for one of York’s largest lending institutions. But the economic reward and what it would purchase was a mere incident to the value William found in his work. The highest hill William ever aspired to live on was McDonald Heights where he and his bride built a modest home some forty years ago.

William shared his financial rewards generously with his community and those associated with him. At the height of his earning power, he could call his younger partners to his office to explain that as his daughters were now educated and settled, and his needs modest, henceforth the profits of the partnership would be shared equally so that the younger partners might better fulfill the commitments he hoped they had made to their families.

William was likewise generous in sharing his time and talent. His was a talent that ran deep in the finest tradition of a general practitioner. We tend to forget that William was at one time an active and successful trial lawyer; that he for many years applied his broad knowledge of the law in service to the Bar Association as Editor of the York Legal Record. While his later years were devoted primarily to real estate financing and a probate practice, he possessed a knowledge and experience unbounded by the strictures of specialty.

Finally, William was a kind and gentle man. There was no meanness in him. This is not to say that he could not become irritated at incompetence or obstructionism which he deplored. However, his apparent wrath would dissolve almost immediately in self consciousness, to be followed by what I would call an elfish grin. He could not hide, even if he would, his essential and abiding good humor.

In William’s death, I am diminished, this Bar Association and the community are diminished. Nevertheless, we have been given a legacy which in honor we may yet enjoy.

DAVID W. BUPP, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, I rise to second my partner’s eloquence in his memory of our deceased partner, Bill Wogan.

There is a heritage that I have; I think of Bill, as I look upon myself, as his grandson of the Bar, in that my preceptor was Judge Cassimatis and Judge Cassimatis’s preceptor was Bill Wogan. I hope that while working with Bill as his partner that I gave him the pleasure that a grandparent should have in a grandchild. I am certain from time to time I gave him as much pain.

There are many anecdotes that all of us can call to mind about Bill, from his rough exterior to his heart, which was as soft as you could possibly imagine. He was a type person who would give the shirt from his back to another person and not tell anyone else about it, as opposed to those people who give public evidence of their charity on a regular basis. Bill was careful, he was considerate, he was diligent, he was honest, and these are the attributes that I like to think I could have as my legacy, and those are the best things I think would like to leave to my children and those who would succeed me.

Our Bar Associate is diminished and I have missed a friend.

JUDSON E. RUCH, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, in 1940 I was admitted to the Bar of this County, and I was a total stranger in York. I was referred to by one or two members of the Bar as an outlander, and it was difficult for me, knowing no one in York, to get started as an attorney.

My office for the first few weeks was in the law library of this County. It is there I saw the one, two or three clients that I happened to bump into who were unfortunate victims in the local police court or surety of the peace cases. But one day after I was admitted to the Bar, by about three or four weeks, I came into the library and a gentleman by the name of Arthur Markowitz who sat down with me and said. How would you like to come over and practice with me and my partner? We will give you a private office, stenographic services, telephone and everything else that you need, and the deal will be that you will share with us the fees from your clients, and we will refer work to you to be processed and carried out by you, and we will share the fees of that work with you. Well, I thought that was a very unusual proposition, because Arthur and his partner stood to gain very little from me and I much to gain from them. And after I picked myself up off the floor in a few minutes, Arthur then said, Well, think it over for a couple days, and I will take you over and introduce you to my partner, and we will discuss the matter further. I didn’t wait three or four days to think it over, I accepted then and there and embraced Arthur and wouldn’t let him out of my sight until he took me across the street to their office, and there I met for the first time our departed brother, Bill Wogan. Bill and Arthur then explained to me again the proposition that they had to make, and thereafter they said that I could move in any time I wanted to within the next two or three weeks. As a matter of fact, about twenty minutes later I was moving all of my legal possessions into the law office of Markowitz and Wogan, consisting of an old yellow tablet, two or three old files encased in file covers that I had picked out of the wastepaper basket in the Court House in York, and moved into my new office. Thereafter, in several months, the partnership was formed of Markowitz, Wogan and Ruch, and thereafter we enjoyed many years of happy relationships in one form or another.

I tell this story because it says something about Bill Wogan. Bill Wogan was gifted in that he gave of himself his time, his fortune to others, without any thought of what he would receive in return for it. He was obsessed with that gift of generosity and giving, and I might say magnificently obsessed with that. Thereafter, I enjoyed, as I say, many years of happy relationship with this fine, sterling man.

Bill Wogan was a great athlete, for example. He was, I think, the star center on the Lebanon Valley College football team, and he was well known in the community as an athlete. After he graduated from college and law school, he spent many weeks and time, much time, at the York Catholic High School coaching their football teams. In those days he didn’t have too much to work with, but he did well with what he had, and many members in this community bear the stamp of his character, which he passed on to them by example of the giving of himself and his time.

As Mr. Yost has indicated this morning, our friend, Bill Wogan, was a loving considerate, kind father. I enjoyed many, many days and hours with him in the Courtroom, in the office, in the Spring Garden Club, at the trout stream, and they were all extremely enjoyable and fine.

I, for that reason, might say to the Court and to my colleagues that I could spend the morning paying tribute in one way or another to Bill Wogan, but I think I have said a great deal about him when I say that he was a fine gentleman of sterling character and quality, who generously gave of himself his time and fortune, to this community and to many individuals in this community, and that, your Honors, is why I asked to rise and second the nomination that has been made this morning.

Thank you.

MARTIN B. EBBERT, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please, I have known Bill Wogan since we were both in York High School, where he was a prominent member of the basketball and football teams. My recollection of him will always be that of a good friend, excellent lawyer and fine gentleman, and I would like to second everything that has been said about him here this morning.

W. BURG ANSTINE, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please, I rise to second the minute to the life of William Wogan. I knew him during the entire period of forty years that he practiced law and during that time I had many pleasant associations with him. I think especially, however, in the twenty years or more that I practiced with him in what was known as the breakfast club at the Lafayette Club, there each morning we would vie with each other to see which one could first finish the crossword puzzle in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and of course, that brought with it many, many pleasant exchanges.

I feel that I have lost a fine friend, this Bar has lost a good lawyer, and the community has lost a valued citizen.

EDWIN M. BUCHEN, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please. Bill Wogan and I were admitted to the Bar of this Court on the same day in December of 1936, along with the late Clarence Lawyer, who was admitted either a few days before or a few days after us. I think we were the sole members of the class of 1936, and it is a rather sobering thought to contemplate that I am the oldest survivor of that little group.

Economic conditions were not too good in those days, and the development of our law practices was a rather slow process, so that we had plenty of time on our hands to become acquainted with each other and lifelong friends.

As has been said, Bill was an excellent athlete in his younger days, and like most athletes he was aggressive and he was firing at times, but at the same time he had a gentleness about him that made you feel at times as if he was almost afraid of his own physical strength.

He was a hard worker, he was a joy to know socially, and he was most importantly a respected and trusted lawyer. He practiced law with all of the cards on top of the table, face up, and you knew when you dealt with him why you never got anything from him that you weren’t entitled to, that the causes in which you were interested were resolved on the merits with fairness to all the parties involved.

I would like to second the motion that Judson Ruch offered.

NORMAN T. PETOW, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please, Bill came to the Bar three to four years after I was admitted, and since we were still young lawyers trying to build a practice, we came into contact with each other quite frequently.

I have been called by many names during my lifetime, but to Bill I was Pete, and he was Bill to me, and so it was until he became ill, and then I would see him on occasion when I was out to dinner, and he frequented The Hill Restaurant and we would see him there, and it was very tragic to watch the deterioration of an individual.

I can’t add much to what has already been said about his integrity and his competency as a lawyer. I agree with that wholeheartedly. He was a gentleman, he was kind, and if he told you that the moon was made of green cheese, you could believe him.

Thank you.

JOSEPH PATRICK CLARK, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, I would like to second the minute of Mr. Wogan and only like to add that throughout my high school and college career Mr. Wogan was a very invaluable counsel for me. When I entered law school, he agreed to be my preceptor, and there were many hours I spent in Mr. Wogan’s office listening to his wise counsel and grappling with the questions that a fledgling and undecided law student grapples with while he is in law school. In 1967 Mr. Wogan gave me an opportunity to come back to York to practice law. I had the privilege of being associated with Mr. Wogan as the senior partner in the firm of Wogan, Elsesser and Yost for four years.

I would say in thinking about Mr. Wogan’s death last week, that there are two things that Mr. Wogan emphasized with me as he always said over and over again. The first was absolute integrity to the Court, to clients and the other members of the Bar; and the second is a commitment of competency of those areas of the law of which we practiced. Mr. Wogan was very proud of the high standards set by this Bar in the practice of law in York County, and he represented that tradition extremely well.

Thank you.

JAMES A. HOLTZER, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, twenty-three years ago before I entered law school, Mr. Wogan was the first lawyer at this Bar that I met. He was then about the age that I am now, and I might add which I considered rather old. I wanted some instant advice as to how to practice law and be successful, and Mr. Wogan indicated that the only way that this should be done would be slowly, in a very long range commitment. He emphasized patience and commitment. I wasn’t sure that he knew what he was talking about at the time, but I find myself giving the same advice to my own children. He made an impact on my life.

DONALD B. HOYT, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, I rise to second my partner, Mr. Yost’s minute in honor of Mr. Wogan.

I didn’t get to know Mr. Wogan as well as I would have liked. I joined the firm in October of 1976, and Bill suffered a stroke the following summer, and he did not return to the office after that, but in the months I did work with Bill I saw and admired his honesty and his dedication, his kindness and his generosity. He was always considerate with his time, never condescending, and he was always, when you were meeting with him and working with him, his praise or criticism was always tempered so that somehow he would get the best out of you. I like to think that it worked, and I will miss him.

JUDGE SHADLE: Are there any other members of the Bar who would like to be heard?

JUDGE CASSIMATIS: If I may, Judge Shadle, Bob Beers called my office about quarter of ten and said he was having car trouble in New Jersey, and he read to my secretary the remarks that he would like to and would have made had he been here, and I will read you the message from Bob Beers:

"I owe a special debt of gratitude to Bill Wogan. He rented me my first office, made available stenographic services, gave advice on puzzling problems of practice and what problems were not puzzling at first, and he set an example of ethical conduct and gentlemanly behavior that might well be emulated by all young practitioners.

As was to be expected, Bill chose outstanding associates in George Elsesser and Mike Cassimatis, forming a group with whom it was a great privilege to work. When we went our separate ways, we took with us the results of an outstanding indoctrination.

Bill was a good lawyer and a good man, and we will all miss him."

ROBERT A. ANGELO, ESQUIRE:

If it pleases the Court, at this moment I would have an awful lot to say if I were not so emotional. I have lost perhaps the greatest friend that I have had since the day that I started practicing law. There has never been a man who has made more an impression on my life or my daily actions. He was a friend and I am glad to say that I was associated with him.

Thank you.

JUDGE SHADLE: Are there any other members of the Bar that would like to be heard? (No response)

Judge Cassimatis.

THE HONORABLE EMANUEL A. CASSIMATIS:

I want to second everything that has been said, very eloquently said. The things I remember about Bill Wogan were his love for life and people, and this affability that he had, obscure to some, real scholarship, and ability as a lawyer, always balanced by practical consideration. He taught me the importance of scholarship, thoroughness of preparation, being practical, and all of those carefully circumscribed by the highest standards of ethical conduct.

It was a marvelous example, my relationship with him, of how a preceptor-clerk relationship could and should work. It is to be regretted that with the passing of the preceptor-clerk relationship that others will not have the opportunity to benefit from it as I did.

His life is an example of the potential of a man’s devotion to his family, his community and his profession.

THE HONORABLE JOSEPH E. ERB:

I did not have the privilege to know Bill Wogan personally during his life, but of those things that I have heard about him over the years completely support the words of praise that have been uttered here this morning, and therefore, I would concur with those statements.

THE HONORABLE JAMES E. BUCKINGHAM:

I knew Bill Wogan for about thirty years, and it would be foolish of me to go over everything that I can say about him. I simply concur, of course, to what has been said by so many people here today.

Bill was a fine lawyer. He was a great guy, and in the later years he joined the L.L.B., that is the great fraternity known as the Lawyers’ Lounge Bar, and he enjoyed going up there and talking sports. Bill was a great athlete, and so, unlike so many of the pseudo so-called experts on sports who expounded their opinions up in the Lawyers’ Lounge on that subject, typified by the young man who spoke twice on this occasion, Bill knew what he was talking about when it came to sports. We had a lot of fun up there, and we are all going to miss him. It’s too bad the younger members of the Bar didn’t really get a chance to know Bill. He was one of the finest examples of a human being and lawyer that I have ever known, and I am going to miss him greatly.

THE HONORABLE ROBERT I. SHADLE:

Well, I, of course, fully agree with all that has been said.

In addition to being an able and respected lawyer, Mr. Wogan was a kind and friendly person. Like you, I shall miss him.

We direct that these proceedings be made a part of the record of this Court, and that a copy thereof be furnished to the members of his family.

We shall now adjourn in respect to the memory of Mr. Wogan.

* * *

JOHN T. LOGAN – MARCH 1981

PROCEEDINGS of the Bench and Bar of York County, Pennsylvania

Upon the Death of

JOHN T. LOGAN

Sunday, March 22, 1981

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS of YORK COUNTY,

PENNSYLVANIA

BEFORE THE HONORABLE Robert I. Shadle, President Judge

THE HONORABLE James E. Buckingham, Judge

THE HONORABLE Joseph E. Erb, Judge

THE HONORABLE Emanuel A. Cassimatis, Judge

THE HONORABLE John T. Miller, Judge

RAYMOND L. HOVIS, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, on behalf of the York County Bar Association, I would like to introduce Martin B. Ebbert, one of our members, who will deliver a Minute with respect to the death of John T. Logan.

MINUTE

MARTIN B. EBBERT, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please, I wish to present the following Minute and move its adoption.

John T. Logan, a member of this Bar, died in York, Pennsylvania, on March 22, 1981, at the age of seventy-one years. He is survived by his widow, Louise S. Logan, and two daughters,

Judith L. Anderson and Martha S. Logan.

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John T. Logan – 1981

He was born in York, Pennsylvania, on November 15, 1909, attended the public schools in York City, graduating from York High School in 1927. After attending Dickinson College, where he graduated in 1931, he then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School and

Dickinson Law School, graduating from the latter in 1935. He was admitted to the Bar on April 26, 1936 and entered into the general practice of law with his father, James J. Logan. He was the third in the line of his family to practice law in York County, his grandfather, John N. Logan, having also been a member of the York County Bar.

With the outbreak of World War II, the requirement in defense plants that employees be required to prove their United States citizenship resulted in a rash of applications to the local Orphans’ Court by persons who were born prior to January 1, 1906 to have their births recorded. Orphans’ Court Judge, Harvey A. Gross, appointed John as a special master to hear these applications and make recommendations to the Court. This job did not last long, however, for, in July of 1942, John accepted a commission in the United States Army Air Force and served until May 21, 1946, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain.

Following his return from the service, John again entered into the practice of law with his father, James J. Logan, with offices at the old York City Hall, in the first block of South Duke Street, and continued to practice there after his father’s death in 1957, until 1964. About this time, he suffered the complete loss of hearing in one ear with the resultant difficulty in understanding what others were saying. He was never completely reconciled to the loss of this faculty and decided to give up the practice of law, although he did continue to accept appointments as a master in divorce and on arbitration boards.

John had a great affection for his family and, following his retirement, spent considerable time visiting his daughters and on winter vacations with them at the home of his uncle, Henry Logan, in Florida. Incidentally, his uncle, Henry Logan, who practiced law in Brooklyn, New York, for many years, died approximately two weeks before John.

Until his health declined, he was very active physically. He loved to play tennis, volley ball and hand ball. He enjoyed entertaining people at his home and customarily greeted them with a pleasant, So happy to see you. He was an interesting conversationalist which he punctuated with a dry, subtle humor. He delighted in making remarks which he knew would bring controversial reactions from those present and he thoroughly enjoyed the arguments which followed.

During the relatively short time that he practiced, he proved that he was a competent and careful attorney and his early retirement must certainly have been regretted by his clients.

Mr. Logan and I were good friends for many years and I must say that the Bar has lost a fine member and the community a good citizen.

I move the adoption of this minute.

K. F. RALPH ROCHOW, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please, I arise to second the adoption of this minute. John Logan and I were in law school together and for many years after that, we went hunting together and we were social friends and we had much joy in our company. I certainly feel his loss keenly and I must say that the Bar has lost a good attorney and I have certainly lost a very good friend.

WILLIAM H. KAIN, ESQUIRE:

I, also, would like to second the resolution. John had a very keen mind and I always enjoyed his dry sense of humor. In fact, I think his sense of humor was so dry that about three-quarters of the time people who heard it weren’t smart enough to know whether he said it with a dry sense of humor. Consequently, most of it was lost.

Also, I enjoyed many years of friendship with John at the YMCA, where we both played volley ball and traveled together throughout the eastern seaboard to tournaments and had a fine time. Actually, he, although not tall, was very quick and athletic and was a real asset to the team and, if I recall correctly, I think my first acquaintance with John was when the York Institute baseball team played Dickinson Jay-Vees and this one person was so quick, he reminded me of a kid and, on inquiry, I found he was a Yorker, John Logan.

I remembered him all this time, although I never got to know him until I myself was admitted to the Bar many years later. So, I second the motion.

SAMUEL S. LAUCKS, JR. ESQUIRE:

I rise to second the Minute. I knew John Logan as a fine lawyer and a good friend.

WILLIAM W. HAFER, ESQUIRE:

If the Court please, I rise to second the Minute. I knew John Logan as a member of the Bar, but, more importantly to me, I knew him as a good personal friend. I cherish the many memories I have in association with John and his wife and I second the Minute.

H. STANLEY REBERT, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, I rise to second the Minute. It’s a shame that the younger members of the bar did not know Mr. Logan. I had the good fortune of being a neighbor to him and his wife and my family and I enjoyed him immensely. He was a fine gentleman with a very dry sense of humor, as Mr. Kain so well stated. I will miss him and my family and children will miss him.

WAYDE P. SEIDENSTICKER, ESQUIRE:

May it please the Court, I would like to second the Minute. John holds a very special place in our family’s memory. John helped me get started in the law business. I got my library and a lot of furniture from him. In addition to this, some of the best small game hunting that I ever had the pleasure of enjoying was with John Logan. Who he borrowed the German short-hair pointer from, I don’t know, but, it was outstanding and he will be sorely missed by our family.

THE HONORABLE ROBERT I. SHADLE, PRESIDENT JUDGE:

Are there any other members of the Bar who would like to be heard.

THE HONORABLE JOHN T. MILLER, JUDGE:

Mr. Logan was born and raised in the tradition of the law and it appears that he is the last surviving member of his family to be engaged in that occupation in York, which is unfortunate.

My professional contacts with him were fairly limited, but I always found him to be a perfect gentleman and a good lawyer. The Bar and the community will miss him.

THE HONORABLE EMANUEL A. CASSIMATIS, JUDGE:

It is, I suppose a way that one measures the passing of time, by deaths of acquaintances and friends. And, also, as I look out here and find that I am perhaps among the younger members of those present, it is unfortunate, as was said, that more of the members of our Bar did not get to know John Logan, as I remember him as an able lawyer, a very amiable person, a gentleman and, as has been noted, his excellent sense of humor. I join in all that has been said heretofore.

THE HONORABLE JOSEPH E. ERB, JUDGE:

In the practice of law, I did not come to know John Logan. But, as has been indicated by Mr. Ebbert, when I became a judge in charge of divorce and he was still serving as a master, I got to know him fairly well. His services as a master in that regard were competent, concise and you could depend on the report being timely and effective. The Bar will miss his presence and I add my condolences to his family.

THE HONORABLE JAMES E. BUCKINGHAM, JUDGE:

My recollection of John was that he was almost strictly and office lawyer. I don’t recall his trying many cases either when I practiced law or when I went on the bench. I remember John as being a no-nonsense, very capable man at the law as an attorney.

I had some dealings with him in real estate. As I recall, his practice was a good bit in real estate. I remember he practiced with his family, Jimmy, in the old City Hall building across from the Yorktowne on North Duke Street and I always had ties and a sentimental interest in that building because, when my father was City Controller in York from 1928 to 1938, he had an office on the second floor of that building and I used to go there and talk to his father, Jimmy Logan.

It has been said that John had a sense of humor. I agree with that. He used to come up to the lawyers’ lounge and talk to us about things. He had a great