Oregon State Bar Bulletin NOVEMBER 2007 |
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Mark A. Lange, a former bar member, died on Sept. 2, 2007, at the age of 51. Lange had been battling colon and liver cancer for 2.5 years.
Lange was born in Bellingham, Wash. He was raised in Mount Vernon and graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1974 as the student body president. After high school, he attended Western Washington University, where he graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in political science, and Willamette University Law School, where he earned his J.D. in 1981 as a member of the Law Review.
Lange practiced law in Oregon, California and Washington and focused on civil and criminal law at both the trial and appellate levels. In recent years, he stopped practicing law and became a political consultant. Progressive politics was his lifelong passion, and he consulted on several national and local campaigns.
Along with his love of politics, Lange enjoyed writing. During his attorney years, he authored an unpublished novel, and more recently he had begun writing a political consulting manual.
Lange is survived by his parents, two brothers, a niece and nephew, two grandmothers and several uncles, aunts and cousins.
Distinguished Salem lawyer and former Oregon State Bar president Asa L. Lewelling passed away in his sleep on Sept. 7, 2007. He was 92 years old.
Lewelling was born on April 4, 1915, in Albany, Ore., and he grew up attending Albany schools. He then attended and graduated from Albany College, which is now known as Lewis & Clark College, and earned his J.D. from Willamette University College of Law in 1939.
From 1942 to 1946, Lewelling served in World War II as a member of the Fifth Air Corps. His efforts in the war earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, America’s oldest military aviation award. After returning from duty, he returned to the practice of law where he worked both as a defense attorney for insurance companies and as a sole general practitioner.
Lewelling practiced law in Salem for 60 years and was admired by his peers and by judges for his knowledge of the law, integrity and commanding presence. His peers respected him so much they elected him president of the Oregon State Bar in 1973.
Lewelling was an outdoorsman at heart. He loved fishing for Chinook, fly fishing, hunting and other opportunities to enjoy nature. He had a reputation among his friends of having a broad knowledge of different species of birds and bugs from his time spent outside. He was also a skilled gardener, earning the nickname "Tomato King" from his vast garden of homegrown tomato plants (and other fruits and vegetables).
Lewelling was also very proud of his family heritage. His father, L. Guy Lewelling, was a respected judge in Linn and Marion counties, and his family came from a long line of pioneers, including his great-great-uncles Seth and Henderson Lewelling, who brought the first fruit trees to the Northwest.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a son and two brothers. Survivors include his wife Shelley, a son, two daughters, a granddaughter and two great-granddaughters.
Warde H. Erwin died in Bend on Sept. 28, 2007, at age 93, after a determined battle with cancer.
He was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Portland and attended Grant High School. He graduated from Oregon State University and Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1939. Erwin interrupted his law practice to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II at the Panama Canal as a second lieutenant in Naval Intelligence.
He practiced in Portland, primarily focusing on real estate, tax law, civil and business litigation, estate planning and probate matters, and then in August of 2003, relocated to Bend. He was described by Norm Weiner as a "Bulldog" when it came to his approach to the practice of law, and anyone who knew him would have to agree.
He was also active in the Oregon Legal Secretaries Association, the American Arbitration Association and the American Cancer Society. Erwin was a member of the Skyline Trail Riders and the Multnomah Athletic Club, and he enjoyed camping, hunting and outdoor activities.
He was a principal in development of Indian Ford Ranch Homes and Wildhorse Meadows and Wildhorse Ridge, out of Sisters, and he always enjoyed spending time on the "dry side" of the Cascades.
He is survived by two sons, who are also OSB members, Charles Erwin of Erwin & Erwin in Portland, and Lawrence Erwin of Bend.