Thomas Abbenante, ’10, passed away May 6, 2022 at
the age of seventy-one. Tom received his bachelor’s degree
from American University and his law degree from
Howard University. He married Donna Marie Lord
Abbenante in 1974. Tom practiced criminal defense
and litigation in the D.C. area. Tom was an excellent,
discriminating and experimental cook and often enthusiastically
hosted groups of friends, with whom he
was endlessly generous. It was not surprising for Tom
to show up at a friend’s house with one of his discoveries
from a local garden or gourmet shop, or his own
kitchen. Tom was well-known for his sense of humor
and could entertain friends with an endless collection
of jokes and a contagious laugh and comedian’s delivery.
Tom was survived by his wife Donna Marie, his two
sons and four grandchildren.
Milton L. Bankston, ’80, was eighty-nine when he died
on June 10, 2017 in Austin. Practicing for sixty-two
years, he served as counsel in over fifty reported decisions
of Texas appellate courts. Milt litigated one of the
most complex fraud schemes in Texas history against
Billy Sol Estes, the notorious con-artist who sold nonexistent
ammonia tanks to hundreds of Texas farmers.
Milt played on a high school state championship football
team in 1944, after which he joined the Navy at
age sixteen. He was recalled at the start of the Korean
War and was commissioned as an officer in the Army
Corps of Engineers. After discharge, Milt earned his law
degree in 1956 from the
University of Texas. Milt
was a dedicated gardener,
fisherman, and hunter. He
was survived by his wife of
fifty years, Carole Bankston,
four children, six
grandchildren and many
great-grandchildren.
Adrianne Irene Landry Baumgartner, ’11, died peacefully
on June 22, 2022 of Acute Myeloid Lukemia at
age sixty-nine, survived by her husband of forty-one
years, Robert Prescott Baumgartner, four children, and
five grandchildren; another child predeceased her, but
another grandchild is on the way. Adrianne attended
Tulane University and Tulane University School of Law,
graduating Order of the Coif in 1978. Adrianne practiced
her entire career in the firm she joined in 1978, becoming
its first female partner in 1982 and first female
managing partner in 2011. Adrianne was the first female
President of the Louisiana Association of Defense
Counsel and was Louisiana State Chair for the College.
Adrianne was also active in business and legislative endeavors,
and an active member of the Louisiana Association
of Business and Industry, serving on its Board
of Directors as well as the Board Executive Committee,
and was the recipient of the 2020 Louisiana Association
of Business and Industry’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Henry Joseph Bogust, ’79,
died January 7, 2020 at
the age of ninety-three.
Bud graduated from high
school in 1944 and enlisted
in the Army Air Corps.
After his military service,
Bud returned to school
under the GI Bill, met
and married Mary Bechely, and graduated from Loyola
Law in June 1955. Bud was one of the earliest members
of ABOTA, serving as its first National President in
1970. Bud and Mary raised fourteen children and travelled
the world together, visiting nearly all fifty states
and more than seventy countries. Bud coached countless
sports teams and was a founding member of the
Glendale Little League. He loved deep sea fishing with
the kids, Dodger Baseball, traveling, cooking Sunday
breakfast, attending Mass with the family, and taking
care of the family pets.
FALL 2022 JOURNAL 66