Memorial Day Program: OBA Reflects, Says Goodbye to Colleagues

Twenty-six red roses were care­fully laid upon a table covered with the names of attorneys and judges who passed on over the course of the past 16 months.

The Omaha Bar Association held its annual Memorial Day Program on Friday in the legislative cham­bers of the Omaha-Douglas Civic Center. The event recognizes de­parted members of the bar associa­tion and presents a rose to a family member or friend in their recogni­tion.

“It is important to recognize and honor those lawyers who came be­fore us and helped set a foundation for the type of legal community that we’re so fortunate to have here in Omaha,” said OBA President Patrick S. Cooper, an attorney at Fraser Stryker.

Attorney Stuart J. Dornan of Dornan Troia Howard Breitkreutz & Conway gave an address that reflects on the challenges of being a lawyer and the dedication that it demonstrates to the community.

“Being a lawyer requires a lot of thick skin, because some people do not view the legal profession as be­ing noble,” Dornan said. 

Dornan said the Omaha legal community has many fine lawyers with respectable professionals.

“We stand on the shoulders of the lawyers who we recognize to­day,” he said. “They brought lead­ership. They brought an idea that you can fight fairly and be civil and treat each other as colleagues and not competitors, and we are so fortunate to those men and women who taught us those things and who we honor today.”

As citizens, Dornan said the law­yers recognized at the event had an opportunity to uphold the rule of law. As attorneys, they also worked directly in that effort.

“They did great things for the greater good, each and every day, one-on-one with their clients,” Dornan said. “They had the won­derful privilege of being able to regularly rise to the occasion to help the poor, the friendless and the needy, the wonderful privilege to rise to the occasion to make sure there that were no second-class citizens under the Constitution, and they had the wonderful oppor­tunity to rise to the occasion in ev­ery aspect of law to make sure that everybody’s dignity was protected and respected and every righteous cause went forward.”

In Memoriam 2018-2019

F. Peter Huse III

S. Bruce Barton

William E. Mooney Jr.

Jennie Marie Dugan-Hinrichs

Bradley “Brad” Gianakos

Hunter B. Sadle

Wallace L. “Wally” Hopkins

Daniel K. Powers

John M. Kerwin

Olivia Guerra Keating

David A. Jacobson

Dean S. Forney

Hon. W. Mark Ashford

Albert B. Kerkhove

Harold L. Rock

Jerrold L. “Jerry” Strasheim

Roger R. Holthaus

Thomas C. Marfisi

Richard E. “Dick” Croker

George A. Penry

Fredrick S. “Fritz” Cassman

Russell R. Sibbel

Robert P. Wintz

Richard L. Swenson

Francis P. “Frank” Matthews Jr.

David L. Herzog