Nick Dibert died Nov. 28, 2004 in Portland after a year-long battle against a rare, aggressive form of cancer. He was 56. He was born in Carmel, Calif. The National Merit Scholar received his B.A. from U.C.-Berkeley in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1977. After law school he clerked for then-District Judge Gerald Schroeder (now chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court) before entering private practice in Boise. In 1984 he moved to Portland and became a partner with Bullivant Houser.
At Bullivant, Dibert’s litigation practice included state and federal court trial and appellate work. He handled complex litigation in the firm’s accounting and architectural practices, as well as construction law and large property insurance losses for the firm’s insurance practice. He was especially proud of his work as one of the key lawyers representing a number of the plaintiff union pension and trust funds in the Capital Consultants case. He also served as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.
The lifelong outdoorsman and sports enthusiast introduced both of his children to whitewater kayaking among other adventures. He loved travel, good food and wine and intelligent conversation. He had wide-ranging musical interests and a library full of the scientific books, mysteries, history, philosophy and geology books he read for pleasure. He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Aliza Bethlahmy, a son and a daughter (14 and 11). He is remembered for his respect for others, his dry wit, quick humor, intellectual depth, great analytical skills and love of life.
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David Slagle of Pacific City died March 4, 2004. He was 69. He practiced tax and business law privately in Lake Oswego and Portland from 1975 to 1998. In 2002 he and his wife, Margaret, moved to Pacific City.
Slagle was born in Pisgah Forest, N.C., and moved to Oregon in the late 1940s. He graduated from Klamath Falls High School and served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1955. The 1960 UO graduate worked in Medford after college, where he was widely known as children’s television host "Roundhouse Ralph." He also worked as a smoke jumper and held a private pilot’s license. He moved to Boston in 1967, where he worked for New England Life Insurance Co. and earned his law degree at Suffolk University Law School at night. He earned a number of post-graduate law degrees in later years.
The life-long Duck fan was a superb chef, among other talents. He is survived by his wife, two children with former wife Claire Denning, two step-children and three grandchildren.
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Thomas Phillips (Tom) Deering was born in 1929 in Arkansas City, Kansas. Shortly after celebrating his 76th birthday, he suffered a stroke while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, and he died March 8, 2005, following the stroke.
Deering graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute in 1949. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering in 1951 and an LL.B., Order of the Coif, in 1956 from the University of Colorado. He was editor of the Colorado Law Review. During the Korean Conflict he served in the U.S. Army at Fort McClelland in Anniston, Ala., where he taught chemical engineering and its application to military science and strategy.
He practiced law in Portland from 1956 until he retired in 1999 as a senior partner with Stoel Rives. He was a nationally recognized authority on employee benefits and pensions who lectured extensively for: the American Law Institute-American Bar Association; the Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans; the Western Pension and Benefits Conference; the OSB and other local and regional organizations. Deering recognized the importance of building security for employees for their retirement years and worked with employer and employee groups to do so. He authored a number of publications and commentaries, and was the honored recipient of the Distinguished Member Award from the Portland chapter of the Western Pension and Benefits Council. He had a passion for the craft of being a fine lawyer, was a gifted and precise author and nurtured others to improve their writing skills. He was a mentor to many, both professionally and personally.
Deering’s many civic and charitable activities included being a board member for the Girl Scouts, board member and vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union and moderator of the First Unitarian Church. He also served as president of the board of both Catlin Gabel School and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. At the time of his death he was a board member of the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and a member of the Education Committee of the City Club of Portland.
He loved the outdoors, particularly the old growth forests of the Cascades. He was an avid skier, mushroom hunter and hiker with friends and family. Deering was extremely well read and for 40 years rarely missed a meeting of the Tuesday Morning Book Group.
Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; three sons and two granddaughters.
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Nancy Ruth Carter of McMinnville died April 3, 2005 at age 66.. She was born in Sunnyside, Wash., in 1939 and raised in Portland. She graduated from Portland State College, and Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in 1966. She was a member of the Oregon State Bar for 36 years. She loved reading, education and volunteering in her community.. She is survived by her husband of 38 years, Finis Carter, their son, five daughters and two grandchildren.
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Harry Stewart Chandler suddenly passed away April 2, 2005 at his home in Boise County, Idaho. He was born in Oakland, Calif. in 1938 He graduated from Berkeley High School and went on to the University of Calif.-Davis, where he graduated with a degree in animal husbandry in 1961. While at U.C. Davis, he successfully completed the U.S. Army ROTC program, during which time he served as cadet battalion commander. He received his commission upon graduation and moved to Germany, where he served in the U.S. Army as an aviation officer. During his tour in Germany, Harry’s passion was flying helicopters. After completing his tour in Germany, he entered Cornell University and continued his animal husbandry studies and earned an M.S.degree in 1966. He always dreamed of being a rancher, but after graduating from Cornell, he succumbed to family tradition and entered law school. He distinguished himself as a law student and served as managing editor of the Cornell Law Review. When he graduated in 1969, he became the third-generation of Chandlers to enter the legal profession.
Chandler’s love of the West took him home again, and a short detour to visit a friend in Oregon led him to accept a summer clerkship in Portland at the prestigious law firm now known as Stoel Rives. He was at home at Stoel Rives, and the firm became the only place he ever worked as a lawyer. He attained partnership, mentored many lawyers during his more than 35-year career at Stoel Rives, and was deeply esteemed by his colleagues in the firm and throughout the legal profession. With an expertise in employment law, he was a member of the Employee Relations Special Expertise Panel for the Society of Human Resources Management, the American Employment Law Council, the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and a member of the ABA, the OSB and the Idaho State Bar. Harry was an active member of the community. He was passionate about his work with the United Way, and amongst his many civic and leadership activities, he was a past board member of the Colorado Rocky Mountain School, past president and director of Albertina Kerr Centers for Children, past director and chair of the Tri-County Affirmative Action Association, and past chair of the OSB Labor and Employment Section.
In 1997, he married the former Beth Crossland Kluth and together they moved to Idaho in 1999. Harry is survived by his wife Beth and six children and one grandson.