Maurice J. Garvey, 71, trial lawyer focused on medical cases
Maurice J. Garvey, 71, resident of River Forest, formerly of Oak Park, was a trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience in the defense of civil jury cases. He concentrated his practice in the defense of physicians, hospitals, health care providers and manufacturers of medical products.
In 1976, he was one of the first attorneys retained to represent physicians insured by Illinois State Medical Insurance Exchange, the primary insurer of Illinois physicians. In 1996, Mr. Garvey was selected to be a mediator in a joint alternative dispute resolution program sponsored by Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital. He has lectured on the use of mediation in medical malpractice cases. In June 1997, he was selected as the defense attorney for a mock malpractice trial held in Dublin, Ireland in a joint program sponsored by Loyola University School of Law; the Irish Legal Education and Research Trust; and the Canadian Bar Association Health Law Section.
Mr. Garvey was a lieutenant in the Marines and was past president of the Illinois Society of Trial Lawyers. He was also a founding member of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, where he practiced from 1967 to 1990 before joining Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey in 1991. In 1985, he was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers, arguably the most prestigious honor for any courtroom attorney.
Mr. Garvey was the husband of Marie and the father of Maurice, Daniel, Mary Frances, Christopher, Eileen, and Brian. He was also the brother of Mary Jane Gancer and the uncle of many.
Mr. Garvey’s passions were the Civil War, baseball, his friends and his family?#34;most particularly his beloved wife Marie.
The funeral was May 21 at St. Luke Church in River Forest. Interment was at Queen of Heaven Cemetery. Memorials would be appreciated to Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, 651 W. Washington, Suite 400, Chicago.
Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.
Margaret Ellen Stewart, longtime resident of Oak Park
Margaret Ellen Stewart, longtime resident of Oak Park, died May 19 after a four-year battle with breast cancer.
Mrs. Stewart was born in Ludlow, Kentucky. She taught elementary school for several years before marrying Clete Stewart in 1959. The Stewarts moved to Oak Park in 1961. Mrs. Stewart and her family are longtime members of Ascension parish. She and her husband were early members of the La Leche league, founded in nearby Franklin Park. During the late 1970s, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart performed ballroom dance numbers in the Ascension parish shows. For many years, the Stewarts were involved in the “gym mass” held at Ascension. In 1978, Mrs. Stewart began a long career at St. Giles School in Oak Park and taught fifth grade there for 19 years. She was also the librarian to the upper grades from 1998 until shortly before her death. In addition, she was the co-director of the Rainbows program at St. Giles, which helps children deal with significant loss due to death or divorce.
Mrs. Stewart was the beloved wife of Clete and the mother of Andrew, Mary, Angela, Cletus, Rosanne and Patti. She was the grandmother to Sean, Maura and Will Pawelko, Kathleen and Megan Kohut, and Maggie, Emma and Amelia Perisho. She was the sister of Tom, Jim and Rosanne Ginney. She was also the aunt of many.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, May 25, at Dreschler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St. A funeral mass will be held Thursday, May 26, at Ascension Church, 815 S. East Ave., at 4 p.m. Interment will be on Monday, May 31 at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.
Memorials would be appreciated to Margaret Stewart Scholarship Fund/St. Giles, at St. Giles school, 1045 Columbian Ave., Oak Park.
Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.
