Joseph John McCarthy died Jan. 28, 2005, of complications from heart disease. He was 69. McCarthy grew up in Portland graduated from Washington High School in 1954. He served as a military police officer in the U.S. Army for three years, primarily in Panama. He attended Portland State University and the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College, where he earned his law degree in 1967.
McCarthy practiced law in several Portland firms and then worked in private practice in Gresham and Boring until his death. He offered free legal advice to many in need. He was also active in the Catholic Youth Organization, Cub and Boy Scouts, and for more than 30 years he participated in the Lobos motorcycle events.
He is survived by his wife of 47 years, the former Betty Oitzinger, three sons, a daughter and eight grandchildren.
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Wayne C. Rapp of Ashland died Feb. 3, 2005, of emphysema. He was born in Chicago in 1923 and moved to Hollywood, Calif. as a teenager. He attended the University of Illinois, but left after his freshman year to enlist in the Army Air Corps. He trained as a B-17 radio operator and served two tours with the 8th Army Air Force in England, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and four Oak Leaf Clusters. He was honorably discharged after the war as a master sergeant.
While working full time, Rapp finished college at night at the University of Southern California in 1948. He had a first career in real estate construction and development before moving his family to Hillsboro in 1962.
He graduated from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in 1971 and formed the Reeder & Rapp general practice firm in Hillsboro with Paul Reeder. After Reeder’s death, he continued practicing with several associates as Rapp & Associates until his retirement in 2001. His son, OSB member William Rapp, writes that his father "loved practicing law and put his life experience to work for his clients. He was devoted to protecting his clients’ interests, particularly as a criminal defense lawyer; he never wanted his clients to plead guilty. He loved talking about the law and how best to approach a trial, preferably over a good microbrew."
Tennis was one of the great joys of Rapp’s life; he and his first wife, Phyllis, were instrumental in the reconstruction of Hillsboro’s public tennis courts and spent many hours teaching local children through free clinics. He also competed in local area tournaments for many years throughout the Willamette Valley and in fact continued to play until shortly before his death.
In 1975, Rapp married Janice Tolle Brown. After 27 years of marriage, Janice died of cancer in 2002. Four children and three grandchildren survive him.