John Lockley, a longtime San Francisco tax attorney, law school professor and arbitrator who continued to adjudicate cases into his mid-90s, never seemed to forget anything.
And he never forgot the day in 1960 when the enraged husband of his client in a domestic abuse case opened fire outside a San Francisco courtroom, sending Mr. Lockley to the hospital with a bullet in his neck and a lifetime's worth of stories to tell.
"He loved the law," said his daughter, Jo Lynne Lockley. "He believed in order, fairness and justice."
Even into his 10th decade, his daughter said, Mr. Lockley stayed up past midnight, reading legal briefs, novels and history books.
"His mind was a sponge," she said. "He was not some doddering old man. He'd remember things I'd forgotten, and I'd have to ask him for help."
Mr. Lockley, 96, died Friday in a San Francisco hospital after a brief illness.
In the 1940s and '50s, he was a tax lawyer for the U.S. Treasury Department, prosecuting tax evaders. He came to San Francisco in 1953 and was named an assistant U.S. attorney.
He entered private practice in 1958, specializing in water rights, insurance and tax matters.
In 1960, while working as an attorney in private practice and representing a woman in a bitter annulment case, Mr. Lockley was shot in the neck and seriously wounded outside a San Francisco City Hall courtroom by the woman's estranged husband.
Moments after the shooting, Mr. Lockley staggered into the courtroom and gasped, "Your honor, I have been shot." Then he collapsed.
The gunman, a cabdriver named Jeremiah Cozzens, also wounded his wife, Winifred, before fatally shooting himself in the head.
Two years later, Mr. Lockley was able to talk about the shootings in a different light, telling a Chronicle reporter that his client "didn't need my services anymore, since her husband had solved the problem by making her a widow."
After his retirement from private practice in 1993, he taught law and legal presentation at Hastings College of the Law and Golden Gate University, in San Francisco. As an arbitrator and mediator, he was deciding torts and accident cases until last year, sagely and coolly determining which side got how much.
Mr. Lockley was a native of Oneida, N.Y., and a graduate of the University of Colorado and of Georgetown Law School. Before entering law school he was a U.S. Capitol police officer, and one of his duties was to assist President Franklin Roosevelt during his visits to the Capitol.
He was a longtime resident of Miraloma Park in San Francisco, where he was active in the neighborhood association. He was fan of the San Francisco Opera and of the San Francisco Giants, in equal measure. He was a world traveler, an epicure and a passionate reader and a book collector, specializing in U.S. history.
He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Marti Lochridge, and by his daughter, both of San Francisco. His first wife, Maxine, died in 1985; they had been married 49 years.
A private memorial service is being planned for April.
And he never forgot the day in 1960 when the enraged husband of his client in a domestic abuse case opened fire outside a San Francisco courtroom, sending Mr. Lockley to the hospital with a bullet in his neck and a lifetime's worth of stories to tell.
"He loved the law," said his daughter, Jo Lynne Lockley. "He believed in order, fairness and justice."
Even into his 10th decade, his daughter said, Mr. Lockley stayed up past midnight, reading legal briefs, novels and history books.
"His mind was a sponge," she said. "He was not some doddering old man. He'd remember things I'd forgotten, and I'd have to ask him for help."
Mr. Lockley, 96, died Friday in a San Francisco hospital after a brief illness.
In the 1940s and '50s, he was a tax lawyer for the U.S. Treasury Department, prosecuting tax evaders. He came to San Francisco in 1953 and was named an assistant U.S. attorney.
He entered private practice in 1958, specializing in water rights, insurance and tax matters.
In 1960, while working as an attorney in private practice and representing a woman in a bitter annulment case, Mr. Lockley was shot in the neck and seriously wounded outside a San Francisco City Hall courtroom by the woman's estranged husband.
Moments after the shooting, Mr. Lockley staggered into the courtroom and gasped, "Your honor, I have been shot." Then he collapsed.
The gunman, a cabdriver named Jeremiah Cozzens, also wounded his wife, Winifred, before fatally shooting himself in the head.
Two years later, Mr. Lockley was able to talk about the shootings in a different light, telling a Chronicle reporter that his client "didn't need my services anymore, since her husband had solved the problem by making her a widow."
After his retirement from private practice in 1993, he taught law and legal presentation at Hastings College of the Law and Golden Gate University, in San Francisco. As an arbitrator and mediator, he was deciding torts and accident cases until last year, sagely and coolly determining which side got how much.
Mr. Lockley was a native of Oneida, N.Y., and a graduate of the University of Colorado and of Georgetown Law School. Before entering law school he was a U.S. Capitol police officer, and one of his duties was to assist President Franklin Roosevelt during his visits to the Capitol.
He was a longtime resident of Miraloma Park in San Francisco, where he was active in the neighborhood association. He was fan of the San Francisco Opera and of the San Francisco Giants, in equal measure. He was a world traveler, an epicure and a passionate reader and a book collector, specializing in U.S. history.
He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Marti Lochridge, and by his daughter, both of San Francisco. His first wife, Maxine, died in 1985; they had been married 49 years.
A private memorial service is being planned for April.
Originally Published at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/12/BA9R16C5VK.DTL
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