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going to have breakfast, lunch and especially where you’re going to have dinner,” his friend (and FACTL) Tom Breen recalled. Bill’s wife Sarah Florence Nesti Kunkle died in 2014. He is survived by two daughters and a grandson.
Robert J. Malinak, ’85, was
eighty-six when he passed on No-
vember 29, 2022. A native Texan,
Bob received a B.A. degree from
Rice Institute in 1958 and an
L.L.B. degree from the University
of Texas School of Law in 1961.
He was a trial lawyer in Houston
until 1999, trying more than one
hundred cases in state and federal courts in Texas and Ar- kansas. After that, he was an arbitrator and mediator. In 2016, Bob began his career as a novelist, specializing in baseball stories. Bob became a serious baseball fan when he listened to a radio broadcast of a World Series game between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
G. Wesley Manuel Jr., ’87, died at the age of eighty-seven in June 2022. While attending Bucknell University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Wes worked as a wholesale representative for a large automotive deal- ership, attending weekly auto auctions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His exposure to auto mechanics would serve him well as he later began to try product liability cases. During his first six years of practice he tried and won more than eighty cases and developed a reputation for successfully defending product liability cases, represent- ing General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, International Truck and Harvesters, Harley Davidson, and many others.
Pacemaker Yachts and Real Ships, Inc. It is estimated that Wes tried more than 400 jury trials in his career. Wes was
predeceased by his wife Rose and survived by his life part- ner Beverly, two children and five grandchildren.
Gerald T. McDonald, ’86, passed away on November 9, 2022, at home at the age of eighty-nine. Jerry was prede- ceased by his wife of fifty-eight years, Margaret Cole Mc- Donald, in 2016, with whom he had four children and eight grandchildren. Jerry was President of the Oneida County Bar Association and Chair of the New York State Bar Association Trial Lawyers Section. Jerry was captain and quarterback of the >150 lbs football team at Cornell. He loved skiing but merely enjoyed golf, tennis, racquet- ball and swimming in Lake Delta.
Edward Menkin, ’12, passed away on March 31, 2022 after a two week battle with acute leukemia. Edward came to Syracuse in the 1960s and enrolled in the graduate program in the English department where he received his PhD. After several years of teaching as an associate professor of English at SUNY Upstate, where he met his wife Laurie, he pursued his law degree at Syracuse University and was admitted to the bar in 1978. Edward worked as an Assistant District Attorney for two years before deciding to open his private practice in 1980 as a criminal defense and personal injury attorney. Edward was passionate about the pro bono work he did for his community and was known for his story telling, his sense of humor, his kind heart, and his great love for his family and the precious summers on Fourth Lake in Old Forge. Edward is survived by his wife Laurie, three children and three grandchildren.
Edward Lee Middlebrooks, ’86, was eighty-five when he passed on July 30, 2022. Ed attended the University of Miami, where he received his BA and law degree. He practiced from 1960 until January 2022, the last several years with his son, Todd. Ed was active in the Broward County Justice Association, serving as a past president. Ed is survived by his wife of fifty-nine years, Barbara, three children and nine grandchildren.
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His interest in engines was not limited to land vehicles; he had a passion for boating, representing Checkmate Boats, Penn Yan, Wellcraft, Detroit Diesel, Rule Industries and Sen Dur. Wes was also general counsel to Jersey Yachts,