Oregon State Bar Bulletin — JANUARY 2003
| In Memoriam |
Chapin Clark, who helped lead the University of Oregon Law School to national prominence during his six-year tenure as dean during the 1970s, and who is remembered for his love of Oregon’s waters and wilderness, both as a scholar and as an avid outdoorsman, died Oct. 3, 2002, in a boating accident on the Rogue River. He was 71.
Clark was raised in Lawrence, Kan., the son of a sociology professor and a former librarian. He earned his bachelor of arts and bachelor of law degrees from the University of Kansas and master of law degree from Columbia University. He taught at the University of South Dakota and at West Point before coming to the U.O.
Clark joined the faculty in 1962 and retired in 1992. He was such an academic force that the Oregon Law Review devoted the entire Summer 1992 issue to his achievements. He remained active and in residence at the law school as professor emeritus after his retirement. His most recent contribution was to analyze bar passage rates of U.O. law graduates and recommend curriculum changes to improve them. As a teacher, he was universally admired for his character, fairness and sense of ethics.
Clark was named dean at the age of 37 in 1974 and served as dean until 1980. He taught and wrote in the areas of property and water resources law. He also taught legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Clark’s career at the U.O. was a series of 'firsts.' Clark was the first U.O. law faculty member selected by other professors, rather than the dean, as was customary. He was the first faculty member hired to focus on public policy matters dealing with natural resources and water law. Shortly after arriving at the U.O., Clark began drafting and administering the first comprehensive student conduct code in the United States. Traditionally, students were disciplined at the discretion of the dean. And he was instrumental in building the school’s environmental and natural resources program, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, now replicated on several continents.
In 1986, he received the U.O.’s Charles Johnson Memorial Award for meritorious service, given to those who demonstrate adherence to freedom of speech, adaptability to change and openness in all ideas.
Clark was an expert in the field of Western water law, and an able negotiator in that controversial area. He was one of two mediators appointed to help settle a water dispute in the Umatilla Basin.
Gov. Bob Straub appointed Clark chairman of the Oregon Water Policy Review Board in 1977. He served for two years. He wrote extensively on Western water law, including an article on proposals to divert Columbia River water to the Southwest and the first 'Survey of Oregon Water Law.' He served on the Advisory Board of the Oregon Water Trust.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy of Eugene, a son and a daughter.
• • • • •
Longtime Hillsboro lawyer, bar and community leader and public official David G. Frost died Oct. 29, 2002 after a short bout against cancer. He was 67.
Frost was born Aug. 14, 1935, in Cloquet, Minn., and moved to Oregon in 1946. He earned his law degree from Willamette University College of Law in 1960 and began a private practice in Hillsboro, which he maintained until is retirement in October 2002. He specialized in real estate and land use, corporate and business affairs, and probate and estate planning.
Frosts served as a representative to the Oregon Legislature from 1967 to 1971 and was a Washington County commissioner in 1978. He chaired the Citizens’ Advisory Committee for Westside Transit Corridor for Metro from 1985 to 1988 and was a member of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the Northwest Power Council from 1980 to 1983. From 1971 to 1974, Frost served on the OSB Board of Governors.
He was city attorney for Forest Grove, Vernonia and Gaston during different periods in the 1970s through 1990s. He also was corporate attorney for the Tuality Healthcare organizations and a director, officer and founder of SakeOne Corp.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Barbara, and their two sons and two daughters.
• • • • •
Retired Portland lawyer Scott M. Kelley died Nov. 18, 2002, of complications related to leukemia. He was 76.
Kelley was born July 29, 1926 in Portland, was raised in Portland and Oswego, and attended Lincoln High School. He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve on active duty from 1944 to 1946. He studied at Reed College, Columbia University and the University of Oregon where he earned a B.S. in economics. He graduated from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in 1952 and joined his father’s law practice. That same year he married Patricia Stone, a granddaughter of former Oregon Gov. Oswald West. She preceded him in death in 1986.
Kelley practiced law in Portland for 35 years, focusing on insurance defense and workers’ compensation matters. He was honored at the October 2002 Annual Meeting as a 50-year member of the Oregon State Bar. Upon retirement in 1987, Kelley enjoyed fishing, hunting, traveling and spending time with his grandchildren. Kelley was a 50-year member of the Multnomah Athletic Club, and had been a longtime active member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
Survivors include his best friend, Jean Kugler; his sister, Elizabeth Kelley Crookham; brother-in-law Hon. Charles S. Crookham; and three grown children (one of whom is OSB member Alison S. Kelley of Salem). +