Category Archives: Obituaries

J. Don Foster Dies at 76

Long time NAFUSA member and former member of the board of directors, John Donaldson Foster (“”Don””), age 76, died peacefully on October 23rd in Mobile, Alabama after battling a long illness.  He is survived by his wife, Kathy Quina Foster of Mobile, AL, his sister, Dr. Patricia Ann Foster (David) of Iowa City, IA; his children, Dr. Meredith Foster Herlong (Warren) of Fairhope, AL and John Harlan Foster (Marti) of Point Clear, AL; his step children Marion Albert Quina, III (Margie) of Nashville, TN and Elliott Richardson Quina (Kellie), of Mobile, AL; six grandchildren, Foster Horton, Emory Horton, Pierce Horton, Johnny Foster, Marykate Foster, and Harrison Foster; and four step grandchildren, Lauren Quina, Byers Quina, Elliott Quina, and Sage Quina.

Don was born in Mobile, Alabama. He moved to Foley, Alabama as a child and later attended Foley High School where he excelled in several sports, including football and baseball. During his career as a running back on the football team, Don and teammate Kenny Stabler led the Foley Lions to multiple state championships during an unrivaled era of football dominance for the school. Don still holds the career touchdown record to this day. Upon graduation from Foley High School in 1963 as an All-American High School Athlete, he attended Georgia Tech on a football scholarship, where he was coached by the legendary Bobby Dodd. After graduating with a BS from Georgia Tech in 1967, he then attended the University of Alabama law school and received his law degree in 1971. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1971-1975 where he achieved the rank of Captain.

Don was admitted to the Alabama Bar Association in 1971 and embarked upon what was to become a prolific legal career. He began work with the Mobile firm Gallalee, Denniston & Edington, where he practiced for several years before forming his own law firm in Baldwin County. Over the course of his long career, Don practiced in a variety of legal areas and was highly regarded by his peers for both his skills in the courtroom and his integrity in all areas of life. During his career, he practiced in many jurisdictions, was elected as Bar Commissioner by the Alabama State Bar, was appointed to the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, and in January 1995 was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. After his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he returned to private practice as co-founder of the firm Jackson & Foster, LLC, where he practiced until his retirement a few years ago.

A beloved husband, father and grandfather, Don was devoted to family, the practice of law, the University of Alabama, and many other civic causes where he left his mark as part of the fabric of his community. Don was known for his big smile, quick wit, and keen intellect. He will be deeply missed.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be sent to the Parkinson’s Foundation or a charity of choice.

A celebration of life will be held at Christ United Methodist Church (6101 Grelot Road in Mobile) on Wednesday, October 27 at 1:00pm followed by a reception for friends and family members at the Country Club of Mobile.

As is our custom, at NAFUSA’s request an American flag was flown over Main Justice today in Don’s honor. It will be presented to his family as a token of the esteem with which he was held by his colleagues.

Flag flown over Main Justice on October 26 in honor of J. Don Foster

Leon Kellner Dies at 75

Former United States Attorney Leon Kellner (SD Florida 1985-1988) died at his home in Coral Gables on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, after battling pancreatic cancer. He was raised by Jewish parents who escaped Nazi Germany and settled in New York City.  He practiced law at Anderson Russell Kill & Olick. Kellner was an experienced trial attorney in New York when his former Harvard Law School roommate, then U.S Attorney Stanley Marcus recruited him to come to Miami and join his staff.

The Miami Herald reported that Kellner was a highly sought after litigator in New York, which is why Marcus recruited him. Kellner served as the chief of the civil division, then as executive assistant and first assistant before becoming the United States Attorney in 1985.  His office successfully indicted former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who served 17 years in federal prison. Other highlights of time as U.S Attorney included successful prosecution of the Medellin Cartel and members of the “Miami River Cops.”

“He was a first-rate U.S. Attorney,” Marcus told the Herald. Marcus went on to serve as a federal district court judge, and on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where he remains today.

Kellner is survived by his wife, Ellen, two daughters and four grandchildren. As is our custom, NAFUSA will arrange for an American flag to be flown over Main Justice in Leon’s honor and presented to his family as a token of the esteem with which he was held by his colleagues.

 

Thomas Sullivan, 91, Dies

Thomas Sullivan, who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, 1977-1981, died on May 18 at his home in Wilmette, Illinois. He was 91. He was succeeded in office by NAFUSA member Dan Webb (1981-1985) and then by NAFUSA member Anton “Tony” Valukas (1985-1989).

Tom was best known for initiating “Operation Greylord” to root out bribery and case-fixing in the Cook County Circuit Court system. A total of 92 officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers and 10 deputy sheriffs. Outside of his time in public service, Tom spent most of his career at Jenner & Block along with Tony Valukas. He helped build the firm’s pro bono practice, including being part of an effort to end the death penalty in Illinois and working to free detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

He is survived by his wife, Anne Landau, and his daughters, Maggie Sullivan Cescolini and Liza Sullivan; a son, Tim; a step-daughter, Mimi Landau; and six grandchildren. Tom earned his law degree at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

As is our custom, at NAFUSA’s request an American flag was flown in Tom’s honor over Main Justice and presented to his family as a token of the esteem with which he was held by his colleagues.

 

Tom Delahanty, 75, Dies

Tom Delahanty

NAFUSA member Thomas E. Delahanty II, a legal titan in Maine whose career as a prosecutor and judge spanned more than four decades, died Monday after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 75.

As reported by The Portland Press Herald:

Delahanty, a prominent member of a well-known Maine legal family, served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Maine from 2010 to 2017. A lifelong Democrat, he was appointed by President Barack Obama. It was Delahanty’s second stint. He also had been appointed to the post 30 years earlier by President Jimmy Carter.

 

Gov. Janet Mills mourned Delahanty’s passing and cited his work on behalf of Mainers to stem the opioid epidemic.

 

“I respected and admired his intellect, his judgment, and his commitment to protecting and delivering justice under the law for the people of Maine,” Mills said in a statement. “I will miss him but know that Maine is better off as a result of his service. My thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Ruth, and his two sons.”

 

Delahanty grew up in Lewiston, earned his undergraduate degree in Vermont and earned his law degree at the University of Maine School of Law in 1970. Following a short stint as a defense attorney, he was elected district attorney in 1974 for the newly created Prosecutorial District Three, covering Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties.

 

His first stint as U.S. attorney for the District of Maine was between 1980 and 1981, when Carter appointed Delahanty to replace George Mitchell, whom Carter had appointed to the federal bench.

 

When Carter lost re-election to Ronald Reagan, Delahanty resigned and returned briefly to defense work for two years until 1983, when he was appointed a justice of the Maine Superior Court, where he served, including as chief justice from 1990 to 1995, until Obama named him U.S. attorney for the District of Maine in 2010.

 

“Tom Delahanty was a giant in the Maine legal community,” Donald E. Clark, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Maine, said in a statement Wednesday. “In addition to his professional accomplishments, he was also an honorable, just man and a devoted husband, father and grandfather. We at the U.S. Attorney’s Office mourn his passing and send our condolences to his family.”

As is our custom, NAFUSA will arrange for an American flag to be flown over the United States Department of Justice and presented to Tom’s family as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues.

 

Warner Hodges, 99, Dies

Warner Hodges, prominent Memphis attorney, died April 10, 2021, at his home in Germantown, Tennessee at the age of 99. He grew up in Memphis, graduating from Southwestern (now Rhodes College) with a major in Chemistry. While at Southwestern, he was President of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and, because of his degree in Chemistry, was sent to the highly secret Army facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico, to work on the Manhattan Project in the development of the Atomic Bomb. For his essential work in contributing to the successful conclusion of World War II, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the then U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Stinson.

After the war, he attended Vanderbilt University School of Law on the GI bill, graduating in 1949. After a few years in private practice, he was appointed as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and was later appointed as the U.S. District Attorney by President Eisenhower, where he served with distinction, prosecuting crime in Tennessee. His brilliance was exemplified in the courtroom, and in 1961, he left government service and returned to private practice where he utilized his criminal skills to become one of the foremost criminal defense attorneys in Memphis, earning acquittals for several prominent public officials.

He was married to the late Barbara Rees Hodges, and is survived by their three sons; namely, Rusty Hodges, Lincoln Hodges, and Geoffrey Hodges. Rusty and Lincoln followed him into the practice of law, as did Lincoln’s son, Rees Hodges. He is also survived by five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

As is our custom, NAFUSA will arrange for an American flag to be one flown over the United States Department of Justice and presented to Warner’s family as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues.

Jim Rolfe Dies, 80

Former United States Attorney (ND Texas) James Allen Rolfe died on February 26, 2021, after a valiant twenty-year battle with melanoma cancer and lung cancer. Following three years of service in the United States Army, Jim attended and graduated from Austin College in 1965 where he was a member of the basketball team and president of his fraternity. Throughout his lifetime, Jim continued to be an avid supporter of the college and served as president of the Alumni Association and president of the A (Athletic) association. In 2000, Jim received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Austin College, and he was admitted into the A Association’s Hall of Fame in 2005. In February 2020, Austin College honored Jim by naming their new basketball court the “Jim Rolfe Court”.

Jim attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin and received his JD degree  in 1968. He was a member of the Dean’s Round Table at the University of Texas Law School, a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas County Criminal Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He served as an Assistant City Attorney for the city of Dallas, an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County, and an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. He rose in the United States Attorney’s office to the position of chief of the criminal division before leaving the office for private practice. In 1981, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District by President Ronald Reagan.

He was a member of NAFUSA and has served on the board of directors. Jim was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of the Metropolitan Lodge of Dallas and the Hella Shrine of Dallas. In addition, he was an advocate for the Scottish Rite Hospital. Jim was a member of the National Football Association, and he served on the board of the Association’s Gridiron Club of Dallas and was an advisor to the board of directors of Matador Resources Company. He was a member of Park Cities Presbyterian Church and hosted a weekly Bible study in his home for sixteen years.

Jim was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Susan Stowers Rolfe, his daughter Rebecca Rolfe Youngman and her husband Patrick, his son, James Gregory Rolfe and his wife Elizabeth, and by his granddaughters Isabella and Emilia Rolfe.

As is our custom, NAFUSA arranged for an American flag to be flown over the United States Department of Justice and it was presented to Jim’s wife Susan at the memorial service on March 10, as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues. NAFUSA President Paul Coggins and Executive Director Emeritus Ron Woods are shown in the photo below presenting the flag to Susan. The photo to the right shows Jim’s flag being flown over Main Justice last week.

 

 

 

Dick Thornburgh Dies, 88

Long time NAFUSA member Richard (Dick) Thornburgh passed away on Thursday morning, December 31, 2020. He was 88. President Ronald Reagan appointed Thornburgh to be the Attorney General of the United States in August 1988, and he was asked to stay on by President George H.W. Bush. He served as AG until 1991. Thornburgh also served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania (1969-1975); Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division (1975-1977); Governor of Pennsylvania (1979-1987); and Under-Secretary on the United Nations (1992-1993)

Click here to view the news advisory from K&L Gates, where Dick began his private practice as an associate in 1959 and returned after his time in public service, until his retirement from the firm in early 2019. He is survived by his wife, Ginny, four sons, six grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. As is our custom, NAFUSA will request that an American flag be flown over Main Justice in Dick’s honor, and presented to his family as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues.

One of NAFUSA’s founding members Victor Ortega writes:

Like everyone else I was saddened to learn of the passing of Dick Thornburgh.  As I explained at the San Francisco meeting, NAFUSA really had its origins in the first Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys which was appointed by Attorney General Elliott Richardson.  Many of the founders of NAFUSA were members of that original Advisory Committee.  Dick Thornburgh was one of the original appointees to the Advisory Committee.  With his passing I believe there are only three of the original Advisory Committee members left, Ralph Guy, now a Senior Judge on the 6th Circuit, Bob Fiske and me. Ralph Guy was one of the founders of NAFUSA as well.  Dick Thornburgh was a contemporary, a friend and an outstanding public servant and we will miss him.

Another NAFUSA member, Chuck Rosenberg, shared this memory The first phone call.

Former US Attorney Jim Burns dies at 75 following career that took him from basketball court to federal courthouse

 

Jim Burns, whose success took him from the basketball court to the federal courthouse as U.S. attorney (ND Illinois 1993-1997) died Friday, December 11, 2020. He was 75.

The death was announced by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who appointed Burns in April 2000 to serve as inspector general, a job he had held ever since. Burns took the post as federal investigators were continuing their Operation Safe Road corruption probe of the office under White’s predecessor, George Ryan, who was elected governor in 1998. Ryan was released from prison in 2013 after being sentenced to 6½ years on corruption charges.

Born in Quincy and raised in McLeansboro in southeastern Illinois, he led his high school to fourth place in the state basketball tournament before getting a scholarship to Northwestern University.

He won third-team All-America, Academic All-America and All-Big Ten honors in his senior season with the Wildcats in 1966-67 and graduated with a degree in history. He spent a year professionally with the Chicago Bulls and then the Dallas Chaparrals in the American Basketball Association in 1967 before a torn Achilles tendon late in the season ended his playing days.

He returned to Northwestern in 1968 and received a law degree in 1971. Burns then served as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1971 to 1978 and moved to the position of chief of the criminal division.

He then went into private practice, serving as a regulatory partner with Isham, Lincoln and Beale from 1978 to 1987 and then became a defense and regulatory partner with Keck, Mahin and Cate from 1987-1993.

Burns gave up the federal prosecutor’s post for an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1998. Burns returned to private practice at Sidley & Austin before being named to the inspector general’s job by White, whose office looked to try to restore voter integrity as a result of the federal investigations left under Ryan.

He is survived by his wife, Martha, and 3 children.  As is our custom, at the request of NAFUSA, an American flag was flown over Main Justice and will be presented to his family as a token of the regard with which Jim was held by his colleagues.

Former US Attorney Donn F. Baker Dies, 71

Donn F. Baker, age 71, died as a victim of Covid-19 on Thursday, November 12, 2020 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Donn served as the United States Attorney for the ED of Oklahoma (1984-1985). He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1982 and served as an AUSA until he became the U.S. Attorney. He had served as an Assistant District Attorney in Tahlequah before his federal service. After he left office, Donn went into private practice in Tahlequah, where he has practiced law for over 35 years and served as the City of Tahlequah Judge. Donn was recently inducted as a fellow into the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was described as a legend in northeastern Oklahoma. 

 

Donn is survived by his wife of 49 years, Sharon Greenhaw Baker, his son, Jeffrey Donn Baker, and daughter, Sherri K. Cometti. The funeral was held on November 16. As is our custom, at the request of NAFUSA, an American flag was flown over Main Justice and will be presented to his family as a token of the regard with which Donn was held by his colleagues.