Page 114 - ACTL Journal Win24

Fran would leave that story on his child’s answering ma- chine every birthday for decades. Fran’s two appearanc- es before the U.S. Supreme Court (both of which were wins), drew praise from Supreme Court Justices Harry Blackmun and William Brennan, who each remarked that he was one of the most eloquent attorneys ever to argue in their court. He was also the longest running member of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Federal Rules of Civil Procedure committee, continually re-appointed by the Chief Justice. That’s actually how I met Fran.
When I was appointed Chair of the College’s Federal Civil Procedure Committee, I was told that while mem- bers of the Committee generally rotated off after four or five years, I had one permanent member – Fran. He was the most productive member of our Committee.
In one of his trials, Fran defended the Boston Globe in a libel suit levied by a gubernatorial candidate who had erroneously claimed to have graduated from Harvard, and was unhappy when the Globe exposed what the candidate dismissed as an innocent error. “How,” Fran asked the jury earnestly, “how does a person forget he didn’t go to Harvard?” After retirement, Fran charged into genealogy. He had always meant to dabble in it, but as was his style, he ended up laboring – and mas- tering – it. He unraveled tangled webs of church re- cords, municipal accounts, personal diaries, and ship manifests on different continents to thread together a narrative of his extended family’s Irish heritage, going back centuries. Predeceased by his first wife Cynthia Ann Blundell Fox, Fran is survived by his wife Sandra Lynch Fox, four children and seven grandchildren.
David Edward Funkhouser, ’91, passed away peacefully in his home on September 1,
2023 at the age of eighty-one.
Following high school gradu-
ation in 1959, Dave worked
for the summer as a brakeman
for the Santa Fe Railroad. He
would be laid off at the end
of each summer to attend the University of Iowa in be- tween each railway stint. Dave worked his way through law school, graduating in 1967. During his clerkship for the Honorable M.L. Mason of the Iowa Supreme Court, Dave met Michaela “Mickey” Lannon on a blind date arranged by her sisters. They married in 1969. Dave got involved in the Iowa State Bar Association, was elected
to its Board of Governors, and ultimately served as Pres- ident in 1988. Dave also served as the Iowa State Dele- gate to the American Bar Association and later served on the Board of the ABA for three years. Dave was also an avid outdoorsman who loved duck hunting, wild turkey hunting, skiing, backpacking in the mountains, camp- ing, playing golf, and playing cards. Dave is survived by Mickey, three children and seven grandchildren.
Bruce Ira Goldstein, ’92 died at age eighty on Septem- ber 2, 2023. Bruce graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rut- gers College in 1964 and earned a scholarship to Cor- nell Law School. Bruce launched his career as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey, where he rose to the post of Executive Assistant U.S.
Attorney. In 1976, he received the Attorney General Distinguished Service Award for his successful prosecu- tion of political corruption. In 1977, Bruce went into private practice. In 2005, following a serious heart at- tack and related complications, Bruce underwent a suc- cessful heart transplant, thanks to an incredible medical team at Columbia Presbyterian and the generosity of an anonymous donor. Bruce remained profoundly grateful for that gift, and he went on to serve as Chairman of the Board of the NJ Sharing Network, which provides services and support to individuals awaiting transplan- tation. Bruce is survived by his wife of fifty-four years, Marjorie, two children and three grandchildren.
Charles Cooper Gordon, ’92, peacefully passed away on September 8, 2023 at age seventy-nine from compli- cations following a cardiac arrest. Chuck attended the University of Washington, where he was in the Army ROTC program; he graduated with a degree in Account- ing in 1966 and from the Law School in 1969. Chuck met Margaret Peggy Stull, a UW undergrad, during his first year of law school; they were married December 20,
1968. Chuck served in Vietnam in 1970-1971. After completing his military service and traveling through- out Europe with Peggy, Chuck returned to Seattle and enjoyed a rewarding and successful forty-plus year ca- reer as a trial attorney, retiring from full-time practice in 2014. Chuck and Peggy traveled the world, includ- ing trips to Africa, South America, Japan, China, Aus- tralia, Antarctica, Iceland, Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, and throughout the United States. His favorite was a three-month road trip in 1985, driving his family
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