Reflections at Journey’s End: Memorial Minutes Volume Iv 2000–2017

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, and 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: Dec 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982214135

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

2000–2009

William C. Adrian Boyle

Arthur D. Weeks

Hugh D. Manifold

J. Christian Ness

Allen H. Smith

K. F. Ralph Rochow

Harry C. Elsesser, Jr.

Francis Worley

Earl R. Doll

Harold N. Fitzkee, Jr.

Robert J. Wire, Jr.

Jay C. Kauffman

Gerald E. Ruth

Judge Richard H. Horn

Robert Oren Beers

Judge Joseph E. Erb

Thomas H. Reed

Judge James E. Buckingham

Gary D. Martz

Wilson H. Oldhouser

Judge Emanuel A. Cassimatis

2010–2017

Jeffrey C. Bortner

Jack F. Ream, II

Robert J. Brown

Clyde M. Hughes, Jr.

Judge Clarence N. Patterson, Jr.

Judge Albert Gallatin Blakey, III

Samuel S. Laucks, Jr.

Jack H. Barton

Samuel F. Meisenhelder

John J. Moran

Daniel F. Wolfson

Henry Boyer Leader

James D. Greenberg

Angela N. Dobrinoff-Blake

Judge Sheryl Ann Dorney

Judge John T. Miller

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

2000–2009

***

WILLIAM C. ADRIAN BOYLE – JUNE 2000

PROCEEDINGS of the Bench and Bar of York County, Pennsylvania

Upon the Death of

WILLIAM C. ADRIAN BOYLE, ESQUIRE

Friday, October 6, 2000

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF YORK COUNTY,

PENNSYLVANIA

BEFORE THE HONORABLE JOHN C. UHLER, PRESIDENT JUDGE

THE HONORABLE EMANUEL A. CASSIMATIS, SENIOR JUDGE

THE HONORABLE JOHN T. MILLER, SENIOR JUDGE

THE HONORABLE SHERYL ANN DORNEY, JUDGE

THE HONORABLE PENNY L. BLACKWELL, JUDGE

THE HONORABLE MICHAEL J. BRILLHART, JUDGE

THE HONORABLE JOHN W. THOMPSON, JR., JUDGE

THE HONORABLE RICHARD K. RENN, JUDGE

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Attorney Herrold?

ATTORNEY JOHN HERROLD: May it please the Court, it is my sad duty to inform the Court that our membership has been diminished by the death of William C. Adrian Boyle on June 7 of this year. Attorney William B. Anstine will deliver the Minute in memory of Mr. Boyle.

After Mr. Anstine, a representative from the Pennsylvania Bar Association will address the Court followed by members of the Bar who wish to be heard. I would ask that anyone who wishes to speak, please use the podium and identify yourself for the court stenographer.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you.

ATTORNEY WILLIAM ANSTINE: May it please the Court, fellow members of the Bar, family and friends, we have gathered here today to offer a Minute of Respect on behalf of a prominent member of our Bar, William C. Adrian Boyle.

Bill was a good friend of mine, and I’ve been acquainted with him since 1981 when he was first admitted to the York County Bar Association. Those who knew him well I am sure will agree with me that he was a consummate lawyer; confident, well prepared, effective in the courtroom, courteous to the Court and fellow attorneys, caring of his clients and staff and extremely professional in the way he handled his clients’ affairs. He was also a perfectionist. I consider it a privilege to be able to present this Minute of Respect in his memory.

When I began preparing my remarks, it was first my intention to give you a full account of all the achievements of his career and his remarkable life; but as I gave it more thought and discussed this with members of the Bar, I decided that maybe this would be too much on my part.

It became apparent to me that there were many of you who had experiences and positive recollections from your contact with Adrian and wanted to add your personal comments to the Minute. I, therefore, chose not to attempt to cover every facet and detail of such a full and active life.

Instead, it is my intention to focus on the highlights and milestones of Bill’s career with some personal references of my own and thereby not encroach on any remarks and observations of other members of the Bar which may be much more aptly recounted in their own words.

I must tell you that Adrian was always Bill to me. That was how his father introduced him to me when he first joined the law practice after graduation from law school. Bill had a strong sense of wanting to make his own mark and soon elected to use his middle name. He was named after both his grandfathers. He used the name Adrian, and I think it was because he believed it sounded more professional.

I’m going to present a list of adjectives and descriptive phrases to you so that you can consider whether or not these apply and whether or not a choice of given name would make any difference: Dedicated, loyal, hard working, generous, ethical, smart, devoted to family, multitalented, appreciative of staff and associates, competent, scholarly, handsome, affable and friendly. I could add other terms to this list, and I am certain that you would agree that they all apply to Bill or Adrian. What is in a name is the quality of the man we remember.

At this time I will relate some of the milestones in Bill’s life. After that I would make some personal references to our relationship. And lastly, I would like to give you a glimpse into some other features of the very well rounded life of which you may not have been aware.

Bill was born on January 22, 1955. He was a graduate of the Lawrenceville School in Princeton, New Jersey and obtained a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University, New York, in 1978. He spent a year in Sydney, Australia, the home of the recent Olympics, and took courses at the University of Sydney.

Bill graduated from the Dickinson School of Law in 1981 and shortly thereafter was admitted to the Pennsylvania and York County Bar Associations. Thereafter, he practiced law in partnership with his father in the 200 block of East Market Street.

During the next six or seven years, Bill remained single and enjoyed a reputation as probably one of York’s most eligible bachelors. I know that if I was ever present with Bill at a meeting, young ladies would come up and ask me if I knew him and whether or not he was married.

21479.png

William C. Adrian Boyle – 2000

After playing the field for a while, Bill met a young lady who caught his eye. She was attractive, well educated, very accomplished and as dedicated to her job as he was to his. She captured his heart, and on October 14, 1989, Bill took Condoda Smith Boyle to be his bride.

They continued their professional lives on a fast pace but had a very complete and loving relationship. Their son Ethan was born in March 1992, and I’ve noted that he bears a strong resemblance to his father and has inherited many of his mother’s wonderful characteristics.

Returning to the subject of professional achievements, Bill served on the Board of Directors of the York County Bar Association from 1991 to 1994. He was Chairman of the York County Bar Association’s Courthouse Facilities Committee in 1996 and worked diligently on this project since that date.

He was deeply involved in the laborious task of studying the existing courthouse and its long term needs. He also studied other courthouse projects in other jurisdictions to see what concepts could be brought back to York to improve the present facility. This was his love and became an absolute passion. As a result of a lot of hard work by this committee under his leadership, recommendations were made to the commissioners and the new courthouse project is now moving forward with the full support of the county.

Since his admission to the Bar, Bill, in the same mold as his father, Frank Boyle, was very active in the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He served with distinction first as Secretary and then Chairman of the Young Lawyer’s Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in the years 1988 to ’91. He was also Pennsylvania’s representative to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates from 1990 to 1992.

While chair of the Young Lawyer’s Section, he instituted the Lawyer/Doctor Education Team Partnership against drug and alcohol abuse. Under this program, teams of doctors and lawyers would go into school classrooms and talk to students about the legal and medical consequences of drug and alcohol use. His leadership in establishing this program was a crucial ingredient in making it successful.

After the death of his father and law partner, Frank Boyle, Esquire, on November 1st, 1991, Bill practiced general law with a strong emphasis on personal injury cases and eventually established the well known Boyle Law Firm with an office on South Queen Street, where he devoted 90 percent of his practice to personal injury cases.

He was a member of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyer’s Association and was a very able athlete. I had the pleasure of working with Bill on several cases that were litigated and was amazed not only with his level of expertise but with the amount of energy and time that he devoted to each case.

His preparation was thorough and meticulous, and he had an excellent understanding of the legal principles involved in the various aspects of the case. He was a master in this field of law. Several of the judges before whom Adrian tried cases have told me that his level of preparation and skill with which he presented cases were a model which could well be followed by others.

On a more personal level, Bill was my very good friend. Even though there was an age difference of some 15 years, there were so many similarities in our lives that we felt an instant kinship and we found that we had a lot of other parallel interests as well.

As the more senior lawyers know, our fathers were both lawyers and very prominent members of the York County Bar. They both served four year terms as District Attorney of York County, and they both rose to the position of President of the York County Bar Association. They were also both active on committees in both the York County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

In each case, our mothers supplied a nice counterbalance to the intensity and pace of these two active trial practitioners. Our mothers both had a love of music and art. In fact, Bill’s mother spent several years teaching music in the York County school system.

Sadly, both of our mothers died of cancer at about the same time. As fate would have it, both of our fathers died in the fall of 1991. And within two months of each other, we both stood here in this courtroom and presented Minutes of Respect for our fathers.

In 1992, we both had sons born in the month of March, and they attend school and have been in the same classroom for several years. We both built homes in the same development in the last several years and, in effect, mutually went through the trials and tribulations of planning and building a home for the first time.

As you may well guess, we always had a lot to talk about, and many of our conversations were on a deeply personal level since the sadnesses and joys of our lives seemed to coincide.

Incidentally, I’m sure that you’ve all experienced the same feeling that I have had when you were engaged in a conversation with Bill. He would be 100 percent engrossed in the discussion with you and would not be distracted whether there were five or 500 other people in the room.

I’ve already alluded to the fact that Bill was an extremely hard working lawyer. In all honesty, he probably spent more hours per week in his office than any other attorney in York.

Those who knew him well knew that Bill also had a great zest for life. As I mentioned before, he was multi-talented. Bill had taken flying lessons and was an accomplished pilot, having earned a private license for single aircraft engine. This is one of the pastimes that he no longer had time for after the birth of his son, and he has not actively engaged in that hobby since 1992.

Bill had a love of the beach which went back to his childhood when his family would spend the summers in Lewes, Delaware. He and his siblings had learned to surf, and this became one of his great loves. Even when Bill was in law school, he would spend some weekends at the shore so that he could pursue this sport.

His interest in surfing was so deep that he would travel to other locations and several times traveled to Biarritz in France because surfing was so good there. He continued to subscribe to surfing magazines so that he would keep up with the latest developments in this activity. Certainly this was his best loved hobby.

I’m sure that the sense of balance he developed on the surfboard carried over to his attempts at skiing because he became an excellent skier as well. Bill also had a love of gardening and enjoyed playing tennis and golf. In the latter two endeavors, he worked very hard in an effort to improve his proficiency.

In addition to these activities, Bill had a strong interest in photography and showed great artistry with his 35 millimeter camera and also his camcorder which he used to record family events. Two days before he died, Bill and I were together at Leader Heights Elementary School watching our sons participate in the annual grade school track meet. Bill recorded that event with his camcorder in a very professional manner. When the events were over, he was brimming with pride because Ethan had won the 100 yard dash.

Other evidence of his artistic side was shown in Bill’s deep interest and expertise in the area of 18th century American art and early American antiques. He had amassed a tremendous amount of knowledge about these subjects. Condoda has advised me that Bill’s strong interest in art was developed and fostered through his mother’s love of these cultural advantages.

To sum it up, Bill was very gifted. He was handsome, tall, intelligent, extremely capable, and he had many strong traits which I’ve only touched on here. He was also a gift to us and to the Bar. He had a deep love of his profession, and he worked very hard to improve it not just with the courthouse project but also in the example he set by dealing fairly with his fellow attorneys.

He was driven by a desire to re-establish professionalism in a vocation which lately had not been held in the highest favor by the general public. If you ever spoke to Bill on these subjects, you knew that he had very strong feelings.

From my observation, he tried very hard to live up to that ideal that was expressed by William Penn years ago, and the quote is I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to a fellow being, let me do it now and not defer or neglect it as I shall not pass this way again.

We extend our sympathies to Bill’s wife Condoda, his son Ethan, his brother Franklin Boyle and his twin sister, Elizabeth B. Illick. I respectfully move the adoption of this Minute.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you, Attorney Anstine. Are there any seconds to the Minute as presented?

ATTORNEY WILLIAM ANSTINE: Your Honor, at this time I’d like to introduce Mr. Kit Conner, a representative of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He’s well known in York as our former zone 3 governor, part chair of the Young Lawyer’s Section. He has a resolution which he would like to present to the Court.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Very well. Thank you.

ATTORNEY CHRISTOPHER CONNER: May it please the Court, my name if Christopher C. Conner from Dauphin County, and I come as an emissary of the Pennsylvania Bar Association to read into the record a resolution duly adopted by the Pennsylvania Bar Association at the most recent meeting of its Board of Governors.

On a personal note, I spent two years on the Board of Governors with Adrian, enjoyed the experience immensely, and I think we both considered it to be an honor and a privilege to have served that board.

The resolution reads as follows: Whereas, William C. Adrian Boyle, Esquire, of York served the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the legal profession of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with distinction from 1981 until his untimely passing in the year 2000.

Whereas, William C. Adrian Boyle, Esquire, became a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1981 and served on the PBA Medical/Legal Committee from 1985 until 1986, the PBA Editorial Board from 1987 until 1989, the Conference of County Bar Leaders from 1989 until 1990, the PBA Board of Governors from 1989 until 1992, and as a Pennsylvania delegate to the American Bar Association from 1990 until 1992.

Whereas, William C. Adrian Boyle, Esquire, distinguished himself as the chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Young Lawyer’s Division, from 1991 to 1992. During his term as chair, he skillfully united the talents of young lawyers and doctors in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to form an outstanding public education program through which both lawyers and doctors visited schools statewide and explained the negative legal and medical implications of illegal drug use to school students. And I would like to add as a personal note, as fate would have it, I was at a school board meeting this morning where this very project was the subject of significant discussion.

Whereas, he also served as co-editor of the YLD News and chaired the YLD Lawyer and Arts Committee. Whereas, William C. Adrian Boyle practiced law in York and was active in the York County Bar Association, particularly its Young Lawyer’s Section.

He served on the YCBA Board of Directors from 1989 until 1991. He was chair of the YCBA Young Lawyer’s Section from 1984 until 1985, and as a DA, YLS affiliate delegate from 1986 until 1989.

Whereas, William C. Adrian Boyle served his York community faithfully as a charter member of the First Capital Optimist Club of York, as a member of the Historical Society of York County and as a member of the adjunct faculty of York College of Pennsylvania.

Whereas, William C. Adrian Boyle was known to all as a lawyer committed to the ethical practice of law. He gave service beyond measure to the Pennsylvania Bar Association in establishing a public education program that raised the profile of lawyers in their communities and helped thousands of students in the fight against drug abuse in their schools.

Adrian’s commitment to his profession, to his community and to his family will be remembered fondly and gratefully by those of us who had the privilege of knowing him.

Therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Bar Association adopt this memorial resolution August 18, 2000 in recognition of the contributions, standards and achievements of William C. Adrian Boyle, Esquire, and extends its condolences to his wife Condoda, his son Ethan, and the entire Boyle family on the passing of a beloved Young Lawyer’s Division chair, devoted husband and father and faithful friend.

Signed, Marvin S. Lieber, Esquire, President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Thank you for allowing me to present this resolution.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you. Are there additional seconds?

ATTORNEY KENNETH ECKARD: If it please the Court, my name is Ken Eckard, and I rise to second the motion today. Bill Boyle was a very good friend of mine. He joined the Bar the year that I did in 1981. And though we came from different backgrounds, we fast became friends and enjoyed each other’s company both before we were married and since we were married. Our wives have become very good friends, and our children are very good friends.

I always appreciated Bill’s company. I appreciated his good taste. He was conversant in art and music and fine wines. He was a good looking fellow, and it was always beneficial to be in his company. Prior to my marriage, of course. I remember he invited me to go with him to Biarritz one time. He was a surfer. I wasn’t. I had plans to go, but I had trial and so I couldn’t go that time, and I regret not having taken that opportunity.

He was a remarkable golfer, given the fact that he rarely did it. He had the ability to hit the long irons, and I’ve never been able to master that skill.

He was a gentleman in a profession where you should take for granted that everyone would be a gentleman, but, frankly, you don’t always meet gentlemen in this profession. You could tell it from the time you shook his hand. He had a firm handshake. He looked you in the eye when he talked to you, and he was respected by his friends, his family and his fellow professionals.

He was a capable advocate. And whenever you knew you were going to be in court with Bill Boyle, you better be prepared because he was going to be prepared. He helped the underprivileged. He took on cases that were difficult cases, cases that other people did not want to handle or did not feel they had the ability to handle, particularly specifically limited tort cases. He developed a reputation for handling these cases and for being successful in handling them.

I will miss Bill. I enjoyed being with him. I enjoyed the friendship that we had. I am knowledgeable of the fact that when he did go, he knew that he had the love of his wife and his children, his friends and his family, the respect of his community, and I appreciate the opportunity to second this motion today.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you, Attorney Eckard.

ATTORNEY KATHERENE HOLTZINGER-CONNER: Good morning. May it please the Court, my name is Katherene Holtzinger-Conner, and I would also like to rise to speak on behalf of William C. Adrian Boyle and second this Minute. I’m honored to be present in this courtroom this morning, but I’m sorry that it is on such a sad occasion.

I knew W. C. Adrian Boyle first as Bill and later as Adrian. When I first met Bill, it was 1986 and I had just been hired by Frank to work on what we believed to be a fairly large litigation case. It was a tremendous learning experience for both of us, and I learned just how tenacious and committed Bill could be to his clients and his cause. He brought a great sense of energy and effervescence to every task that he undertook.

And I also learned early on of his various and intense interest in horses, flying, surfing, art, art history, antiques, and, of course, Condoda.

At that time Bill became very active in the Pennsylvania Bar Association and specifically the Young Lawyer’s Division. My husband Kit who just spoke was also active, and we, Bill and Condoda and Kit and myself and others, had wonderful times and many great memories. And, Condoda, I hope those memories will be of some comfort to you in later years.

Adrian I mostly associate with the later years when I know he was committed to building his own practice and his mini storage business. We spent many hours working on cases together, very often with excellent results for the client.

Adrian was willing to take on some of the more difficult cases, the limited tort cases. He worked very hard on those cases. He was genuinely interested in people, and he always tried to accomplish the absolute best result for his clients.

In fact, many of the clients continued to keep in touch with the office after the representation ceased, Christmas cards, telephone calls, people stopping in, and I believe that speaks volumes of how well he did for his clients and how much his clients liked him.

He was devoted to his family and to you, Condoda, to his son Ethan. His face lit up when he spoke of Ethan’s most recent accomplishments, places they had been, things that they had done. You are and were truly a joy to him. I will sorely miss Adrian, and I know that he will be sorely missed by his colleagues. Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you.

ATTORNEY KRISTINA BANGE: May it please the Court, Kristina Bange. I rise also to second the Minute offered this morning on behalf of Adrian Boyle.

He was known to many as Bill, but he was known to just as many as Adrian. He was known by all as an outstanding attorney.

He was taken away so young with so much in life yet to accomplish, although he had already accomplished so much. Anyone who knew Adrian knew of his commitment to the York County Courthouse project. I venture to say that now he’s in a place so spectacular that even HOK, the courthouse architectural design firm, couldn’t have designed it better. I was beginning to believe the C, the initial C in his name stood for courthouse.

As a young lawyer, I was very privileged to have had Adrian as a mentor, a friend and a boss. It’s hard to imagine a finer teacher with more patience and understanding that Adrian, but he also placed a great deal of trust in me and taught me to trust in my ideas and instincts even when I didn’t believe in myself or the potential of my abilities.

I first came to know Adrian in 1992 when I began working part time in his office as a secretary and legal assistant. And when I mentioned to him my interest in attending law school, he encouraged me to do so and he wrote a letter of recommendation for me to submit with my law school applications.

Following my graduation from Widener University School of Law in 1996, he generously took me on board as an associate attorney. He moved my admission to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the York County Bar Association. Most recently in March of this year he petitioned for my admission to the Pennsylvania District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. It was always an honor for me to have him introduce me to other lawyers and members of the Bench.

It was Adrian who stressed to me so strongly my involvement in the York County Bar Association, to encourage networking and to improve the quality of my professional life. He taught me too many lessons to share right now, but they’ll always be remembered as will the man who shared them. He was a champion for the rights of his clients and those who he cared about. He’ll be greatly missed by myself. Thank you.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you.

ATTORNEY DANIEL PELL: May it please the Court, my name is Daniel Pell. I’m an attorney here in York. I would like to second the motion. I became friends with Adrian Bill Boyle really around 1990, ’91. My office was near his and near Frank Boyle’s office. And after the death of Frank, I represented Adrian and some of the other members of his family, and I got to know Frank – I’m sorry. I got to know Adrian quite well.

And I could say three things about Adrian. One is he loved surfing, and he loved to tell me stories about having gone to the south of France and, in particular, the adventures that he had there with his friends. And he was vivid in his descriptions of all the good times that he had, and we’ll leave it at that.

Secondly, Bill had a tremendous understanding and comprehension of art and particularly of American colonial art. And we often discussed it, and he would show me his paintings and go through in detail why a particular antique or a particular painting was important, what it stood for. And I know that it was important to him that art, literature, philosophy, which are the important things in life, were also very important to him.

The third thing that I mention was that it was clear to me in representing him that the most important thing in his life was his family, and he was dedicated to his family. He was dedicated to his wife, and I’ll miss him greatly.

PRESIDENT JUDGE UHLER: Thank you. Are there any additional seconds from the bar?

ATTORNEY WALTER TILLEY: May it please the Court, my name is Walter Tilley. I succeeded Adrian Boyle or as he was then known as Bill Boyle as the chair of the Young Lawyer’s Association as the committee was then known. I guess it seems that everything that Bill touched changed its name at some point along the way.

But I had the privilege of working with Adrian when he was chair of the young – what was then known as the Young Lawyer’s Committee, and his term spans several very dynamic years. He restructured the committee to prepare it for its evolution into the Young Lawyer’s Section. He caused the young lawyers to reach out beyond themselves, first to establish a close working relationship with the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Those links continue today. For example, our Mock Trial program and our Stepping Out program are just two examples of programs that can trace their roots back to Adrian’s work. He caused the young lawyers to reach out to the community. Public service was of supreme importance.

We know from his recent success as the chair of the courthouse committee that his dedication to reaching out to the community and his dedication to public service expand his professional career.

He also caused the young lawyers to reach out to the rest of the York County Bar Association. Ultimately, his efforts were recognized as the young lawyers changed from a committee to this Bar Association’s first section, reflecting the trust of the Bar Association in the independence and leadership that Adrian Boyle brought to the task.

I also had the privilege of working with Adrian on a case. Actually, he represented parties in a case, I represented the parties, and the cases were consolidated so that we worked together as a team. I was very impressed with Adrian’s determination, but I was especially impressed by his commitment to justice, in his service to his community.

To the Bar Association and to his clients, Adrian reflected the highest standards of our profession.

Adrian’s family and this Bar Association and, I dare say, even this Court have sustained a great loss by Adrian’s untimely passing, but we have benefitted greatly by his time with us. His contributions and his enthusiasm for life are what he would want us to remember.

May those contributions and his enthusiasm inspire us to serve and to lead as he would have done. I respectfully second the Minute in honor of my friend and colleague, William C. Adrian Boyle.

ATTORNEY RONALD HERSHNER: If it please the Court, my name is Ron Hershner. I rise to second the Minute ably presented by Attorney Anstine. As the years go by, a lawyer finds himself attending more and more of these tributes. It seems like just a short time ago that I came to hear Bill speak in tribute of his father, and here we are today in tribute to Bill’s life. It’s difficult at any time, but when the colleague that you’ve lost is a contemporary, a classmate and a friend, the reality is much more numbing.

I’ve known Bill nearly all of my life. I knew his parents when Frank taught Sunday school at Round Hill Church and his mother directed the choir. We attended the same elementary school in Stewartstown and attended the same high school until Bill left for Lawrenceville, but it was in 1978 that I really began to develop a good friendship with Bill.

It was at a kegger at the Sadler Curtilage at Dickinson School of Law at orientation when somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, you are Ron Hershner, hi, I’m Bill Boyle. And from that point, a friendship of more than 20 years developed.

I wouldn’t say that we were extremely close, but we had a great friendship. And though we only spoke perhaps a few times a year, it was always on an extraordinary level. I believe we had a mutual respect for each other, and I certainly held him in very high regard and esteem.

My most vivid memory of Bill was probably ten or 12 years ago when I was feeling somewhat down and depressed. I was tired of ungrateful clients and petulant partners and the general stresses of life in lawyering, and Bill just turned to me and said, Ron, isn’t it great to be a lawyer in York County. And here the pessimist in me, the man who could find a cloud around every silver lining, I realized that he was right, that, in fact, it was very good to be practicing law in York County.

When Bill came to the Bar in 1981, he was, unfortunately, the subject of a great deal of gossip, and in fact, ridicule. He wasn’t quite like the rest of us who were fresh out of law school at that time. We were wearing the polyester suits and the

J.C. Penney ties and driving Chevy Mazdas. Bill was wearing his sharp-looking Italian suits, driving his BMW and spending weekends mountain climbing or going off to France to surf. Many said that Bill was not capable of standing on his own, that he needed his father, he was just a Playboy.