FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2008
Contact: Stephanie Perry
Communications Specialist/Website Editor
206-733-5932; stephaniep@wsba.org
Washington State Bar Association Honors 50-Year Members
(SEATTLE) — Friends, families, and dignitaries turned out to pay tribute to 60 attorneys and judges who this year celebrate 50 years of membership in the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA). In appreciation for their half-century of serving the public, WSBA President Mark Johnson and the Board of Governors presented 50-year certificates and lapel pins to the members who joined the Bar in 1958. That was the year that NASA was established by the U.S. for the scientific exploration of space, Explorer 1 was launched, and the Wham-O Company introduced the Hula Hoop.
Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander made brief remarks honoring the 50-year members. In celebrating its 75th year since the passage of the State Bar Act which created the WSBA, the state bar also recognized the Honorable Albert D. Rosellini as the only member holding an active membership since 1933. In addition to practicing law, Rosellini served as Washington's governor and is credited with numerous accomplishments including leading efforts to construct the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, and establish the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Other luncheon dignitaries in attendance included former WSBA president Stephen E. Deforest, from the WSBA class of 1960, and former member of the WSBA Board of Governors Thomas D. Loftus, from the WSBA class of 1958.
After the presentation of certificates and lapel pins by members of the WSBA Board of Governors, the chair of the WSBA Senior Lawyers Section, Jerome L. Jager, gave a brief address. The luncheon concluded with closing remarks by President Johnson.
The complete list of 50-year members is given below.
Mr. Don Paul Badgley, Seattle
Mr. Joseph Q. Betzendorfer Jr., Tacoma
Hon. Mary Wicks Brucker, Mercer Island
Mr. M. Eugene Butler, Chehalis
Mr. Robert William Callies, Seattle
Mr. Allen Lane Carr, Edmonds
Mr. Robert T. Carter, Oceanside, Oregon
Hon. Harold D. Clarke Jr., Spokane
Mr. Ronald William Coble, Kingston
Mr. Donald J. Disque, Orient
Mr. Robert J. Doran, Olympia
Mr. James John Dore, Kent
Mr. Malcolm L. Edwards, Seattle
Mr. Meade Emory, Seattle
Mr. Landon R. Estep, Bellevue
Mr. Harold Sterling Fardal, Mercer Island
Hon. Joseph Jerome Farris, Seattle
Mr. Richard Douglas Ford, Seattle
Mr. Lawrence Ralph Ghilarducci Jr., Tacoma
Mr. D. Wayne Gittinger, Seattle
Hon. Thomas Poole Griesa, New York, New York
Mr. Gerald Grinstein, Seattle
Mr. Albert Eugene Hammermaster, Sumner
Hon. Robert Lee Harris, Vancouver
Mr. Clinton H. Hattrup, Shoreline
Mr. Ronald L. Hendry, Tacoma
Mr. Richard M. Holt, Issaquah
Mr. Robert B. Hughes, Bellingham
Mr. George C. Inman Jr., Seattle
Mr. Stanley M. Johanson, Austin, Texas
Hon. Jerome M. Johnson, Seattle
Mr. Charles Vernon Johnson, Seattle
Mr. George Arthur Kain, Spokane
Mr. Donald Barnett King, Saint Louis, Missouri
Mr. Wayne Beale Knight, Tacoma
Mr. Leonard W. Kruse, Port Orchard
Mr. Duane Lansverk, Vancouver
Mr. William Farringer Lenihan, Kirkland
Mr. Thomas D. Loftus, Seattle
Mr. George M. Mack, Seattle
Mr. Richard Daniel McWilliams, Spokane
Mr. Charles Thomas Mertsching, Longview
Mr. Richard M. Montecucco, Olympia
Mr. J. Shannon Mullin, Seattle
Mr. James Alva Noe Jr., Mercer Island
Mr. Thomas Frank Paul, Seattle
Mr. G. Eric Pucher, Bellevue
Hon. Norman W. Quinn, Bothell
Mr. Mark Dennis Rotchford, Spokane
Mr. William John Rush, Tacoma
Mr. James Lee Salley, Kent
Mr. Albert J. Schauble, Pullman
Mr. Clark B. Snure, Des Moines
Hon. Richard P. Thompson, Burien
Mr. Irwin L. Treiger, Seattle
Hon. Gary Nicolas Utigard, Burien
Mr. Robert J. Verzani, Federal Way
Mr. David Everett Wagoner, Seattle
Mr. Richard Weil, Waialua, Hawaii
Mr. Robert Clifford Williams, Seattle
About the Washington State Bar Association
The WSBA is part of the judicial branch, exercising a governmental function authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 32,700 lawyers. The WSBA both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association – all without public funding. As a regulatory agency, the WSBA administers the bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; and administers the lawyer-discipline system. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.
The governance of the WSBA is vested in its Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The president is Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle. The president-elect is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma, and the immediate past-president is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee. The Board meets regularly (every six weeks) at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the Bar is carried out through its numerous standing committees, 26 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division with its many committees.
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