November CBA Report

memorials

Peter J. Randolph Sr.

1931 – 2016

Peter Jerome Randolph Sr. departed

this life on Sunday morning January 10,

2016 at his home in Cincinnati, Ohio

at the age of 84. Born to parents, Lewis

Herman & Zella Mae Randolph on

October 11, 1931 he and his eight siblings

were raised in the west end of Cincin-

nati. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he attended Holy Trinity grade

school and DePorress High School. Peter received his Bachelor Of

Science Degree in History and Political Science at Xavier Univer-

sity and his Doctorate of Law from the University of Cincinnati.

Peter Randolph leaves behind to cherish his memory, the love

of his life and devoted wife of 58 years, Mary Ann Randolph; four

children: Lisa, Paula (Lonnie) Hollins, Peter Jr. (deceased) (Tracie),

and Jason (Tonya); three grandchildren: Abrielle, Jasmine, and

Sasha, and one, great-grandson, Zion.

Peter J. Randolph was a pioneer in many respects. He was

the first African American high school student in Cincinnati

to become “Mayor for A Day” in 1949 and the first Mayor for

Xavier University’s Operation Youth in 1950. He was one of the

first African Americans to obtain a Law Degree from the Univer-

sity of Cincinnati. He was the first African American Attorney to

Specialize and practice on the State Level in the area of Worker’s

Compensation.

Although he had accomplished an exhaustive list of “firsts” he

knew that “de facto” discrimination in Cincinnati’s private and

public sectors could only be defeated through collective efforts. A

few of these collective efforts led him to be a founding member

in the following organizations: DYM (Determined Young Men)

which successfully confronted the leaders of the Cincinnati busi-

ness community (Kroger, Proctor & Gamble, etc.) demanding

an opportunity for African Americans to compete for jobs that

were in practice reserved for “whites only”, the Black Lawyers

Association of Cincinnati and the Round Table that expanded

opportunities for African Americans to practice law in some of

the most prestigious law firms in the country (Taft Stettinius &

Hollister, Dinsmore etc.), and he was also a founder of FMFC

Savings & Loans institution which provided lending services to

the community.

The crown jewel of his legal career involved being part of the

plaintiff’s legal team in the landmark case

Mallory v. Eyrich

. The

plaintiffs challenged and successfully defeated a Hamilton County

election scheme for municipal court judgeships. The federal

court found that this scheme was in violation of the 1964 Voting

Rights Act.

Mallory v. Eyrich

provided minorities in Cincin-

nati an opportunity to compete for judgeships and if successful

become decision makers in the pursuit of justice, job providers

with budgets, and provide access to coveted clerkship positions.

Peter J. Randolph was a man of action! Be inspired!

— Jason Randolph

Irving Rosen

1928 - 2016

Irving (Irv) H. Rosen died at the age

of 88. He was a dear man and a hero

to many. He received a B.A. from the

University of Cincinnati in 1954, and his

J.D. from the University of Cincinnati

College of Law in 1957.

After graduating from law school,

Irv began knocking on doors of every law firm in the Tri-State

Building in downtown Cincinnati. He did this until he met Irwin

Aronoff, who immediately hired him. He practiced in the areas

of business law, family law, tax and real estate law. He was the

lawyer’s lawyer. His way of practicing law in a professional, kind

manner has carried forward at the firm in large part due to Irv’s

presence and mentoring of younger attorneys or, as Irv would say,

“I am not a mentor, but rather am a tormentor.”

Irv taught us all to “live our lives and they (clients) will come.”

His love of life and family made him a better attorney. Irv was

a master of practical jokes in the office. In his presence, one

could never help but smile. He was always kind. He was always a

gentleman.

Irv taught us how to listen to our clients as they described their

problems, how to ask probing questions to elicit more facts from

them, how to be calm when faced with adversity, and how to iden-

tify a path to accomplish the client’s goals. Irv did this without

really providing any instruction at all. His teaching method was

simply to let us observe him in practice, and to learn from his

skillful handling of clients, applying the law to their problems,

and working with attorneys and judges to reach a fair resolution.

Irv always reminded us to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes

so we could understand the issues from both sides. Irv knew more

about almost everything than most of us know about anything.

Yet, he never flaunted his intelligence. Irv was always steady, fair,

reasonable and honest. He was a good and decent man.

Irv was an avid tennis player and continued to play until just a

few years prior to his death. He was also an admirer and collector

of cars. His 1932 Plymouth was a prized possession along with

that fast, red hotrod that he enjoyed after his retirement.

Community service was a big part of his life. He performed

volunteer legal services for Temple Sholom and for the Cincin-

nati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. During his

career, Irv practiced in the States of Ohio and Kentucky, U. S.

Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit, U.S. District

Court Southern District of Ohio, U.S. District Court Southern

District of Indiana, U.S. District Court and U.S. Claims Court.

He was a member of the Cincinnati, Ohio, Kentucky and Amer-

ican Bar Associations as well as the American Judicature Society

and Lawyer’s Club.

Irv will be missed by anyone who ever had the pleasure of

making his acquaintance. He built a solid foundation for Aronoff,

Rosen & Hunt that we all are thankful and grateful for.

Irv is survived by his wife, Bev, his son, Steven and grandchil-

dren Erica and Theodore.

— Tina M. Donnelly and Mark W. Reis

November 2017 CBA REPORT