| Oregon State Bar Bulletin — OCTOBER 2006 |
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Linda M. Algar, a compassionate and talented lawyer, died on April 16, 2006 at the age of 62.
Algar was born Linda May Douglas in St. Helens, Ore. Upon graduating from St. Helens High School, she enrolled in the Peace Corps for two years. She completed all but one and one-half years of college before joining Pacific Northwest Bell as an operator. She worked her way from operator to drafting engineer. Eventually her hard work and dedication lead to her becoming one of the first women building supervisors in the Northwest. After 25 years with the telephone company, the company gave her the option of taking a buy-out or they would have to fire somebody in the company. She took the buy-out.
After leaving the telephone company she attended Portland State University, graduating with a bachelor’s of arts in general studies in 1991. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College’s Northwestern School of Law in 1995. After being admitted to practice law in Oregon, Algar rented office space from attorney David Kushner in her hometown of Estacada. Algar later opened up her own practice in Estacada. She had a contagious laughter that would fill her office. She was also an excellent mentor and teacher. She is survived by her husband, Robert James Algar Sr., a daughter, three stepchildren, six grandchildren, a great-grandson and a foster son.
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Multnomah County Circuit Judge Clifford L. Freeman, who served on the bench for the past decade, died Aug. 21, 2006, after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 62.
Freeman was born June 2, 1944, in Portland. He attended Highland Elementary School (now Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary) and graduated from Benson Polytechnical School in 1962.
Freeman received an undergraduate degree in economics, a master’s degree in education, and a law degree from U.O. He served as a felony trial attorney for the Metropolitan Public Defender’s Office from 1979 to 1988. For the next four years, he held a variety of state jobs, including being an advocate for the Office of Minority, Women and Emerging Small Business Enterprises.
From 1993 to 1994, he worked as a consultant in diversity training, education and intergovernmental affairs before returning to the public defender’s office as a civil commitment hearings attorney. He also served as pro tem juvenile court referee for the county before Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed him to the bench in 1996.
According to his colleagues on the bench, Judge Freeman was one of the driving forces behind the development of the county’s Community Court program. It brought courtrooms into neighborhoods to handle quality-of-life crimes that weren’t considered high-profile. He was the first judge to preside over the Northeast Community Court, based at the King Neighborhood Facility in Northeast Portland.
He is survived by his stepmother, Fannie Freeman, and three cousins and their families.
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Gordon Wright Sloan, senior judge and former associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, died on Aug. 23, 2006, in Wilsonville, ending a most remarkable life. Judge Sloan was 95.
Born April 9, 1911, in Hoxie, Kansas, he attended the University of Kansas, where he was the president of his senior class. He went on to Washburn University Law School in Topeka, Kansas. In 1938 he married Geneve Tipton, and in 1939 they moved to Astoria. In 1958, he was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court where he served two highly esteemed terms. He served on several statewide commissions, most notably a study of Oregon Forest Resources, commissioned by Gov. Tom McCall. His judicial excellence was recognized in his appointment as the first senior judge of the state of Oregon. Throughout his life he was an active member of organizations devoted to many civic activities that included the OSB, Kiwanis, SCORE and both the Oregon and Clatsop County historical societies. In recognition of his keen legal mind and ability to amalgamate new information, he was appointed by President Truman to the International Tuna Commission.
Sloan was a voracious reader, a dedicated sports fan, a rancher, a gardener and had the keenest appreciation for the fine foods of Oregon, seeking out farmer’s markets far and wide. But he was perhaps best known for his insatiable curiosity and his unfailing friendliness. Much like Will Rogers, neither he nor Geneve ever met a stranger they didn’t like.
He is survived by his brother and best friend, Eldon, two children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, "adopted" daughters and all the family-like staff and neighbors of Spring Ridge Court in Wilsonville.
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Russell McDonald Dickson died Sept. 11, 2006, in Portland from natural causes.
He was born in Spokane, July 27, 1925. In grade and high school he was known as Richard "Dickie" Lesser and grew up in Portland after his mother married Everett C. Lesser and the new family moved from Spokane to Garthwick. He was known as Russell or "Russ" as an adult. He graduated from Portland’s Central Catholic High School in 1944. He graduated from Stanford University in 1949 with a degree in economics. He went on to obtain a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1952. After finishing law school, he served in the U.S. Air Force, and received an honorable discharge in 1953. This same year he moved back to Portland and was admitted to practice law in Oregon. He practiced for 50 years in Portland; on Oct. 24, 2003, the Oregon State Bar recognized his 50 years of active membership.
Dickson was an early member of the Mount Hood Ski Patrol, an avid fisherman and a passionate collector of fine antiques and rare books. His life was a succession of enthusiasms. He was an expert in Chinese pottery and porcelain, and the Oriental Arts Study Society often called upon him to evaluate and discuss pieces of Chinese porcelain. He also collected Japanese prints and went on to collect oriental rugs, early American furniture and paintings and finally, rare books. He was an early habitue of the Old Oregon Bookstore where he spent many hours with its founder, Preston McMann.
Survivors include: his sister, Patricia L. Wessinger; three nieces and two nephews; 14 great-nephews and nieces.
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Curry County Circuit Judge Howard Lichtig died Sept. 28, 2006, in an accident while driving his motorcycle on Interstate 5. He was 56.
A former bankruptcy attorney, Lichtig was appointed to the court by Gov. Ted Kulongoski last May. He grew up in northern California and was a Vietnam-era Navy veteran. He lived in Langlois.
Lichtig is remembered as a compassionate man who led the local Cub Scout pack in Port Orford and who showed respect for everyone who came before his bench.
Friends described Lichtig as one who fought "for the little guy." Dave Tilton, a Coos County attorney and close friend, was quoted in the Oregonian as saying, "He came out of that great liberal tradition of humanistic thought that the law should serve the people."
He also loved dogs (he had nine of them) and his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Survivors include Lichtig’s wife, Florence, and one daughter. A son died about a year ago.