September 8, 2005

OBITUARIES

William Donald Griffith

William Donald “Don” Griffith of Springfield died Friday, Sept. 2, in Friends Care Community. He was 87.

He was born in Brown County, on June 19, 1918, the son of William Sheridan and Lula Belle (Redkey) Griffith. Don was a member of the United Church of Christ, American Legion and the Air Force Association. He served in the Army Air Corp during World War II. He retired from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s Air Force Logistics Command Center. He was also an avid sports fan.

He was preceded in death by his -parents.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Delores (Castle) Griffith of Dayton, whom he married Aug. 6, 1938; children and their spouses, Julie and Ron Weaver of Springfield, Sue and Harlan Wigginton of Dayton, Perri and Don Schmidt, Leslie and Mitch Crouch, all of Ft. Myers, Fla., and Clark and Linda Griffith of Yellow Springs; a brother, Howard F. Griffith of Bradford; 12 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; a niece and two nephews.

Services were held Tuesday, Sept. 6, at the Richards, Raff & Dunbar Memorial Home, with burial following in Ferncliff Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Dayton.

H. Hale McCown

Hon. H. Hale McCown died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, Sept. 1. He was 91.

The oldest of five children, he was born in Kansas, Ill., on Jan. 19, 1914, to Ross McCown, a Presbyterian minister, and Pauline (Collins), a school principal.

He was educated at Hastings College (AB, 1935) and Duke University School of Law (LLB, 1937). Notable fellow classmates from Duke ’37 include Harland Leathers of the U.S. Department of Justice, Tom and Caroline Stoel, founding partners of the large West Coast law offices of Stoel Rives, LLP, and former President Richard Nixon, who once hosted their class reunion at the White House. Most notable, however, was classmate Helen Lanier, whom he married in 1938.

They made their home in Beatrice, Neb., and raised three children, Bob, Bill and Lynn. World War II intervened in 1942, when Hale joined the U.S. Naval Reserves as a lieutenant and served in the Pacific as a fighter director-intercept officer on a CVE escort carrier. He earned six battle stars, a Philippine Liberation Medal, a Navy Unit Citation and individual citation ribbons.

After the war, he returned to private practice in the law firm of McCown, Baumfalk and Dalke, for which he represented insurance companies, Union Pacific Railroad, and served as general counsel for Dempster Mill Manufacturing and Vice Grip Tool Company.

He was active in the Nebraska Bar Association, serving as chair of the House of Delegates from 1955 to ’56 and president from 1960 to ’61. He was also active at the national level, serving as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1960 and on the Legal Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association from 1957 to ’62. He was highly respected for his work with the American Law Institute, to which he was elected in 1957 and served on its governing council from 1969 until 2000, when he became an emeritus member.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nebraska in 1965, the first appointee under the Merit Plan of Judicial Selection. When he retired in 1983, he had written more than 750 legal opinions, over 100 of which were dissents. Frank Morrison, the governor of Nebraska from 1961 to ’67, recalled his judicial appointee’s integrity to the law in a 1995 interview for the Omaha World Herald. Referring to a controversial property tax bill he had signed into law, Morrison said, “The bill was political dynamite, and I knew it. But it had to be done in the name of equity. But when it went to the Supreme Court, my own appointee and friend Hale McCown wrote an opinion that my actions were arbitrary and capricious.”

McCown has been listed in Who’s Who of America since 1961. Hastings recognized him in 1981 with an Outstanding Alumni Award and Duke Law School honored him in 1986 with the Charles S. Murphy Award for outstanding public service. In 1996, the Nebraska State Bar Association Foundation recognized him with a Legal Pioneer Award, which honors the lifetime achievements of a lawyer who makes innovative contributions to the improvement of justice.

His family will remember him as an avid world traveler, an accomplished teller of tales, a lover of word games, jokes and puns, and a dedicated adherent to Scotch frugality, but not to frugality with scotch. They will miss being worried over, being reminded that “you can’t be self-righteous if you’re right,” and his example of the credo to “treat others with respect, not because they deserve it, but because you are a gentleman.”

He was preceded in death by his son, Bob McCown, and granddaughters Heather Young and Cecily Kenton.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 67 years, Helen; his children and their spouses, Bill and Pauline McCown, and Lynn McCown and Saul Young; his daughter-in-law Ranna Christenson; his grandchildren and their partners, Jocelyn and Jim Hardman, Hadley and Kevin Messner, Hillary McCown and Rick Donner, Andrew McCown and Margot Roth, and Alex McCown; his great-grandchildren Zeke and Jacob Hardman, Jules and Katharine Harris, Isabelle Messner and Ruby Donner.

Memorial services were held Sunday, Sept. 4, at the First Presbyterian Church. Porter-Qualls Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Annie C. Keys

Annie C. Keys of Yellow Springs died Monday, Sept. 5, in the Masonic Home in Springfield. She was 83.

She was born Nov. 5, 1921, in Griffin, Ga., the daughter of Millard and Clyde Era (Collier) Moore. She was retired from Liberty Mutual Life Insurance. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Yellow Springs, where she was president of the Missionary Society, a member of the Deaconess Board and a member of the Usher Board.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Thomas W. Keys Jr.; and 12 brothers and sisters.

She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Mary W. Durgans-Willett and Edward V. Willett of Yellow Springs; a stepson, Robert Keys of New Castle, Pa.; nephews and nieces, Paul Moore, whom she helped raise, and his wife, Anna Mae Moore, Anita Moore, Betty Thomas, Jimmy Moore, Thomas Durgans Jr., Kenneth Durgans, Karen Durgans and Cheryl Durgans; great-nieces and great-nephews, Charles and Bobbi Bailey, Yvonne and Danny Fonteno, Linda and Ronnie Clark and Anita Thompson; cousins, Dorothy and Louis Gibson, Hazel and David Crunkleton, Jean Carl, Shelly and Frank Johnson, and Roxanna and Eric Gunn; friends, Gertrude Durgans and Vivian Mays; and two stepgrandchildren.

Friends may call on Saturday, Sept. 10, after 9 a.m., at the First Baptist Church, where her family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until time of services at 11. Pastor Vurn O. Mullins will officiate, assisted by Dr. James Nooks, who will deliver the eulogy. Burial will follow in Glen Forest Cemetery. Porter-Qualls Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Betty McCormick

Betty L. McCormick of Xenia died Wednesday, Aug. 31, in Hospice of Dayton. She was 78.

She was born Dec. 9, 1926, in Yellow Springs, the daughter of Nathaniel and Lillian (Thompson) Jefferson Sr.

She retired from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after 28 years of service. She was a supervisor of the transportation department and a procurement specialist. She also retired from the Greene County Library. Organizations that Betty was a member of or participated in include the Women’s Auxiliary of the John Roan Post 517 of the American Legion, VFW Auxiliary, Victim Witness Program, Volunteer Police and Greene Memorial Hospital Volunteer. She was also a member of the Middle Run Baptist Church, where she served in the Missionary Society and the Ladies Ministries.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Grace Jefferson; a brother, Nathaniel Jefferson Jr.; and a son, H. Robert McCormick II.

She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Robert McCormick; two daughters and sons-in-law, Cheryle and Joseph Dunford and Valerie and Norman Jackson; grandchildren and their spouses, Michele and Scott Dunford-Scott, LaTedra and Ray Hambrick, Natalie Dunford, Chad Jackson and Cynthia Burney; five great grandchildren; a brother, Thurlow Jefferson; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

Services were held Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Middle Run Baptist Church, with interment following in Cherry Grove Cemetery.