Gene Ann Condon


IN MEMORIAM Francis E. Morrissey Jr.


Gene Ann Condon died May 4, 2011, at the age of 82. Condon graduated from New York Law School in 1954. She fought tirelessly in the civil rights movement and successfully won the release from prison of Daniel Hamm, of the Harlem Six, as well as many other victims of wrongful imprison- ment. She is survived by a daughter and a grandson.


------------------------------------ John H. Downs


Born November 12, 1919, in Arlington, Massachusetts, John H. Downs died in Wil- liston, Vermont, on June 28, 2011. He grad- uated from Yale University in 1941, served in the Army during World War II, and grad- uated from Harvard Law School in 1947. He joined the law office of Sterry R. Waterman in St. Johnsbury, and in 1950 the law firm of Waterman & Downs was established. Af- ter serving as state’s attorney in Caledonia County from 1951 to 1955, he returned to private practice when Waterman was ele- vated to the federal bench. With the ad- dition of partners Robert Rachlin and Al- len Martin, the firm became Downs Rach- lin & Martin, and soon established offices in Burlington (1976) and elsewhere around the state. In the early 1960s, Downs was elected twice to represent St. Johnsbury in the Vermont House of Representatives, where he chaired the Ways and Means Committee and served on the Appropria- tions Committee. In the late 1960s, he pro- vided pro bono representation through Vermont Legal Aid to African-Americans in Mississippi and Alabama who were unable to hire counsel. He served as president of the Vermont Bar Association and was in- strumental in the establishment of Vermont Law School. He was one of eight lawyers nationwide selected by the Lawyers’ Alli- ance for Nuclear Arms Control to address opportunities for arms control agreements during the Cold War era. He also wrote ex- tensively on numerous topics, including au- thoring a book entitled Negotiating with the Russians on Nuclear Arms, and was a frequent contributor of editorial columns on public policy issues. He is survived by his wife, Virginia of Shelburne, three chil- dren, and four grandchildren.


------------------------------------ Born May 11, 1951, Francis E. Morrissey


Jr. of Bennington died August 15, 2011. A graduate of Mount Anthony Union High School, he earned his undergraduate de- gree from DePauw University in 1973, an MBA from Tulane University in 1976, and his JD from Vermont Law School in 1988. He practiced as a certified public accoun- tant from 1980 until 1996. He was admitted to the Vermont Bar in 1989 and joined his mother, Rose, in her practice. Since then he practiced at The Morrissey Law Office. He served as chair of the Vermont District 8 Environmental Commission, and served on both the Mount Anthony Union High School and the Southwestern Vermont Su- pervisory Union Boards. He was also on the board of directors at Southern Vermont College and Southwestern Vermont Medi- cal Center. He is survived by his wife, Bar- bara, five children, three grandchildren, a niece, and two nephews.


------------------------------------ Peter R. Neary


Born April 15, 1950, in Burlington, Ver-


mont, Peter R. Neary, 61, of Fair Haven, died on May 22, 2011. After growing up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, he attended SUNY Albany and moved to Vermont af- ter graduation in 1976. He graduated from Vermont Law School in 1982 and began a private practice in Middlebury. In 1986 he joined the Rutland County State’s Attor- ney’s Office, where he worked for the last twenty-five years. Among his many other activities, he was elected town moderator in Fair Haven. He is survived by his wife, Julie, four children, five siblings, and many nieces and nephews.


------------------------------------ Robert K. Reis


Robert K. Reis of Chittenden, Vermont, died October 23, 2011. A graduate of Fordham University, he did graduate work at the London School of Economics and earned his law degree cum laude at Ver- mont Law School. Reis was a member of the Vermont and Rutland County Bar As- sociations and, in 2003, received the pres- tigious Bonnie J. Henkel Gold Star Award recognizing him as one of the preeminent malpractice attorneys in the nation. His many civic contributions included service on the board of directors of the Vermont


www.vtbar.org THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2011 41


Achievement Center. He is survived by his wife, Linda, three children, eight siblings, and thirty-three nieces and nephews.


------------------------------------ James Meyers Ritvo


Born in 1946 in Newton, Massachusetts, James Meyers Ritvo of Montpelier died August 10, 2011. He graduated from Tufts University and was awarded a master’s de- gree in Urban Affairs from St. Louis Univer- sity. His law degree was from Boston Uni- versity. In 1975, he moved to Vermont and began a 30-year career helping families ne- gotiate the legal system. He was one of the founders, and subsequently the president, of Woodbury College in Montpelier. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie, and two chil- dren.


------------------------------------ Francis J. Thornton Sr.


Francis J. Thornton Sr. of Charlotte, died September 14, 2011, at the age of 80. A graduate in physics from Boston College in 1955, Thornton earned his law degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1963. Having previously worked as an engineer, his law career focused on patent law, first in Boston and subsequently at a company called High Voltage Engineering and final- ly at IBM in Essex Junction. He retired in 1993, though he continued to do pro bono work for Vermont Legal Aid. He devoted considerable time over the last forty years to civic service in the town of Charlotte, where he served on the Selectboard from the 1970s until 2010. He was honored in 2010 by the Vermont legislature for his civ- ic achievements. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ellen, three sons and their wives, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and a brother and his wife.


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