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the football team and selected in his senior year to be team captain when the team ended its season in the Gator Bowl with a win over the Air Force Academy.
Roger attended law school, supported by his job de- livering the Daily Tar Heel and Bonnie’s as a teacher. Roger was a passionate criminal defense lawyer. In one death penalty case, Roger came up with a new argument the night before his client was scheduled to die. Roger called the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and persuaded him to convene the Court at 2:00 in the morning. The Court agreed with the argument, called the prison, and . . . the execution was postponed. Roger is survived by his two children and (forgive us if we got the count off, but this is a complicated family tree after the first generation) thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
Marcus S. Topel, ’96, died on March 13, 2022 at the age of seventy-seven, but that’s pretty much all we know, since we can’t find an obit and haven’t located a family member or friend. If you knew him, tell us about him. He might have been the co-owner and wine-maker at
Topel Winery in Mendacino County; their website says that Mark Topel is a San Francisco defense attorney in his part time when he isn’t making wine. His applica- tion, when he was inducted, informs us that he grad- uated from the University of Cincinnati in 1967 and attended Boalt Hall for law school from 1970-1972. That gap, and the times, strongly suggests that he was in service, maybe in Vietnam. But we’re guessing. We’re guessing he was an interesting guy, and we’d like to know. So if you knew him, drop us a line.
Robert Lawrence Ward, ’80, died May 7, 2023 ten days shy of his eighty-seventh birthday. Larry attend- ed Donnelly College, and the University of Missouri
– Kansas City School of Law. In 1960, Larry married Catherine Joan Gannon Ward (Joan) and began prac- ticing law. Larry cherished visiting his kids and grand- kids coast to coast. He adored history, read libraries full of books, played golf around the world, and traveled to Ireland multiple times. In his youth, Larry worked as a street sweeper and was also a switchman for the Rock Island Railroad. Larry never forgot his humble roots and generously dedicated his life and resources to supporting the people, families, and communities of which he was a part. Larry was preceded in death by his eldest son and survived by Joan, four children and eleven grandchildren.
Walter Stanley Weiss, ’80, was born in Newark and at- tended Rutgers University and Rutgers University Law School; but he spent his adult life in Los Angeles. He was ninety-four at his death on April 12, 2023. Walter was proud of his service in the USAF JAG Corps, the IRS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and his career in several Los Angeles area law firms. Walter is survived by his second wife Misty, his two sons and four grand- children. Walter attended high school in Newark with Philip Roth’s older brother Sandy; he proudly pointed out the landscape of his childhood scattered through- out Roth’s works.
George Weisz, ’86, was ninety at his death on March 29, 2023. George met Joan Beth Gross in high school; they married in 1952 shortly after George graduat- ed from Harvard College magna cum laude. He went on to Harvard Law School, served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude in 1955. After a highly successful, nearly fifty-year ca- reer, he reluctantly retired in 2002 at the age of sev- enty. George was predeceased by Joan Beth and sur- vived by his three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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