Vol. 29, No. 5 #5 (October 2006). EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.

• Author: By Jeffrey A. Schalow

Wyoming Bar Journal

2006.

Vol. 29, No. 5 #5 (October 2006).

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT

WYOMING LAWYEROctober 2006/Vol. 29, No. 5EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORTBy Jeffrey A. Schalow

Today I attended the funeral service held at St. Mary's Cathedral for Mr. Ken Koski, a member of the Wyoming State Bar. I didn't know Mr. Koski. I was there for those of you who could not be. I was there on behalf of the Bar. It's one of my duties. On Monday a member of the Bar staff gave me a copy of Mr. Koski's well crafted obituary. Reading it gave me a sense of who he was and by observing his friends and family at the funeral, it became clear that this was a good man - a man with many friends, an honorable husband, a loving father, and respected colleague. May his family and all who knew him be blessed with love and understanding.

When I got back to the office there awaited me an announcement of the death of another member of the Bar as gleaned from the pages of the Cody Enterprise by our news clipping service. It simply read "Robert John Garrett, 76, died August 13, 2006, at West Park Long Term Care Center."

I was struck by the contrast, by the fact that here was another member of the Bar who had died in relative obscurity, as far as the rest of us were concerned. His passage unremarked. So, I took the time to learn more about him, on behalf of all of us.

Searching the archives of the Cody Enterprise, I learned that he grew up living in the Escabana Lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan. He worked during his summers in high school on the giant ore ships plying the Great Lakes. Garrett flew an F-86 in Korea, graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and lived and practiced law in the Chicago area. He married and raised three children. In the early 1980s, he gave up golf and smoking and took up distance running. He ran in and finished five Chicago Marathons! (He was in his fifties! So, now I've hope for me. Thank you, Robert.) He retired to Wyoming in 1994 and lived with his wife along the South Fork of the Shoshone River.

Mr. Garrett was recognized as a man of integrity who loved practicing law - so much so it seems that in 1995 he joined the Wyoming State Bar, came out of retirement and worked as a real estate attorney in Cody until September 2003.

Bright blessings be upon the friends and family that Robert Garrett left...