Walter R. Rice, a member of the Lycoming Law Association, died September 10, 1979.  A memorial service was held by the court.

Read the memorial resolutions:

In The Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County.

In the matter of the death of Walter R. Rice.

To the Honorable Charles F. Greevy, President Judge, and the Honorable Thomas C. Raup, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.

The Committee appointed by your Honorable Court to prepare an appropriate Resolution upon the death of Walter R. Rice, Esquire, submits the following:

RESOLUTION BY THE COURT AND BAR OF LYCOMING COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, UPON THE DEATH OF WALTER R. RICE, ESQUIRE.

With profound sorrow, the Court and Bar have received the announcement of the death of Walter R. Rice, Esquire, on September 10, 1979.

Walter R. Rice was born in Williamsport on March 11, 1925. He was the son of Walter R. Rice, Sr. and Grace Williamson Rice, and was one of three children.

He attended the Williamsport schools, graduating from Williamsport High School in 1943. He attended Lycoming College and received his doctor of jurisprudence degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1952.

Walter responded to the call of his country in 1943 and served with distinction as a heavy bomber pilot and officer in the Army Air Corps until the conclusion of World War II. One of Walter’s great loves was flying. He served as past president of the Wilco Flying Club, and has been an avid pilot ever since getting out of the service.

After serving his preceptorship with now President Judge Charles F. Greevy, he joined the law firm of Greevy, Knittle and Fisher, where he practiced until 1962. At that time, Walter, Dean R. Fisher and Henry P. Perciballi formed the law firm of Fisher, Rice and Perciballi. This firm, in 1969, became Fisher, Rice and Raup until 1974 when the Honorable Thomas C. Raup was elevated to the bench of this county. Walter’s firm is presently known as Fisher, Rice, Barlett and Delgalvis.

He was a member of the Lycoming Law Association and was honored by his peers who elected him president in 1974. He also served as secretary of the organization and served on its Executive Board from 1968 to 1976. He has been active in various Lycoming Law Association Committees, particularly the committee on customs. He was a member of the Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations. He was admitted to practice before all the Appellate Courts of this state, as well as the Middle District Court of Pennsylvania.

Very active in his community life, Walter served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Susquehanna Valley Legal Services and a member of the American Arbitration Society. He served as a member of the South Williamsport Planning Commission and the Lycoming County Board of View, and as solicitor for the Lycoming County Tax Claim Bureau and the South Williamsport Area School District. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Visiting Nurse Association and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Walter was a life member of the Williamsport Wheel Club and a member of John F. Laedlein Lodge 707, F & AM, the Williamsport Consistory, and Irem Temple Shrine, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Walter was a great sports car enthusiast, owning and racing sports cars, especially a Porsche F Production, his pride and joy. He was vice-president, safety chairman and deputy director of the Race Communications Association. He was a member of the Sports Car Club of America and the Pennsylvania Hill Climb Association, On October 11, 1965, 1 was cited at Watkins Glen, New York, for having served as flagman at fifty (50) sports car races throughout the country.

Walter R. Rice was an extremely capable lawyer and counselor. He conscientiously followed seminars and continuing legal education in many areas of the law, but especially in his field of real estate, in which he was an expert, without peer. He was held in the highest esteem by every member of this Bar, who found him capable, careful and friendly co-worker in his profession. Walter was a stickler for the highest ethical standards and served his clients most ably.

It was impossible to be with Walter without being uplifted by his great sense of humor. His ability to recall amusing stories and anecdotes, just right for a particular occasion, was without equal. Furthermore, Walter was an innovative practical jokester, who literally could not be outdone, as those who tried can attest.

It is impossible to pay an adequate tribute to a man who contributed so much professionally and has been as well liked and has as many friends as Walter R. Rice. His sudden and unexpected passing has shocked and saddened his family a law partners, every member of this Bar, and his many friends and clients throughout this community.

Walter is survived, in addition to his mother, by his wife, Mary Aker Rice, a daughter, Anne Pricher, two grand-children, and two sisters, Mrs. Phyllis Bates, and Mrs. Jean Steiger.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: that through the death of Walter R. Rice, his mother, his wife, and daughter have lost a devoted son, husband and father, and the Bar of Lycoming County has lost an able and respected member; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that this Resolution be spread at length upon the records of the Court of Lycoming County, be published in the Lycoming Reporter, and that copies thereof be sent to his mother, wife and daughter.

AND BE IT ALSO RESOLVED: that this Court and its Bar, here extend to his mother, wife, and daughter, a deep and heartfelt expression of sympathy in this, the time of their earthly separation from their loved one.

Respectfully submitted,

Dean R. Fisher, Chairman
The Honorable Thomas C. Raup
Robert C. Wise
Lester L. Greevy
George M. Hess