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Retired Buckingham attorney passes away
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 25, 2016
In the early ‘70s, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs Partner Sam D. Bartlo began a regular Monday morning meeting to review updates in the law, requiring lawyers from all practice areas and even summer associates to attend, said Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs Partner and Business Practice Group Leader Robert Malone.
“Sam was a true believer in the idea that the law was not a business but a profession,” said Malone. “He expected everyone to keep up and be experts in their field.
“I was one of the summer associates,” he said. “Sam had a chart and he would take attendance every week and check off whether you made it or not. During one of the meetings an associate fell asleep and after that summer associates were not invited.”
While the meeting was eliminated after about 15 years, Malone said Buckingham Partner John Reyes revived it several years ago.
“John is taking attendance in memory of Sam,” said Malone.
Bartlo retired in 2003, but some of those he mentored said his strong work ethic and sense of professionalism left a lasting impression on them.
“He was very bright and very dedicated to the profession, his clients and his family,” said Malone, one of Bartlo’s mentees.
Bartlo passed away on Jan. 31 in Lutz, Florida from complications of pneumonia. He was 96.
“Sam was a 100 percent ‘top drawer’ business and tax lawyer and a nice guy,” said Frederick Lombardi, of counsel at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs. “He was punctual, conscientious and very intelligent. He knew his law.”
Born in Cleveland on Oct. 5, 1919, Bartlo received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University).
After college, he joined the U.S. Army eventually serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
“My dad went through officer training school and was stationed initially at a base near Carmel, California in the army’s artillery division,” said his son Paul Bartlo. “Because they recognized his intelligence, they sent him to Harvard to learn Japanese in anticipation of an invasion and occupation of Japan.
“Upon the Japanese surrender, he was immediately stationed in Nagasaki,” said Paul. “He was one of the first American soldiers to be an eyewitness to the destruction created by an atomic bomb.”
Paul said his father left the service as a decorated captain.
Bartlo used his GI Bill to cover the cost of attending the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He went to class at night and was the editor of the law review.
During the day, he worked as an accountant in the firm that he started with his brother Joseph.
At Cleveland-Marshall Bartlo met another student, Jim Herndon, who would eventually become his law partner.
“Jim Herndon had already been recruited to join an Akron firm with attorney Bob Sheck,” said Robert Briggs, a partner, chairman emeritus and former chief executive officer of Buckingham. “Jim got Sam to move to Akron and they formed Sheck, Herndon & Bartlo.
“They were only together a little while and after which they left Mr. Sheck and they formed the firm of Herndon & Bartlo. They developed a tremendous tax practice and they were known all throughout northeast Ohio.”
Briggs said he interviewed for a position at Herndon & Bartlo in the winter of 1969 and started at the firm in January 1970.
He said Herndon & Bartlo merged with Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs in April 1971.
“Sam could have been a law professor,” said Briggs. “He was a fabulous teacher. He had a lot of patience when he trained me.
“Sam wrote excellent briefs and was extraordinary at analysis. He was not only a great lawyer he was also very attentive to his clients. If a client had a problem on a Saturday night, Sam would be there.”
Briggs said the two became friends, attending social and bar functions together.
He said Herndon and Bartlo put their clients and the firm above their own needs.
“A lot of lawyers who get into their senior years try and hold on to their clients and often the clients leave,” said Briggs. “They never did that. When they were close to retiring they turned over their clients to younger attorneys.”
When news spread that Bartlo had passed away, Briggs wrote a tribute that was distributed throughout Buckingham. It read in part, “Sam was a key factor in developing and maintaining Buckingham’s tax and corporate practice which brought regional prominence to the firm.”
While it may sound like Bartlo’s venture into the legal field went off without a hitch, his son said that wasn’t the case.
“There was a lot of prejudice against Italians after World War II because they were allied with the Germans,” said Paul. “The anti-Italian sentiment was definitely present in Akron.”
He said about the time his father went into practice with Herndon he changed his name from Salvatore Di Bartolo to Sam D. Bartlo.
“To completely avoid it, he really should have named himself Bartlow but apparently he couldn’t give up his Italian heritage altogether.”
Paul said one of his father’s first clients was fellow Italian William Scala who founded Kenmore Construction.
“Many of his initial clients were of Mediterranean descent,” said Paul.
“At one time, Herndon and he represented most of the well-known restaurants in the city of Akron from the Diamond Grille to Tangier. They counseled many of the larger auto dealerships as well as Hudson inventor and industrialist John Morse.”
Bartlo served as president of the Akron and Ohio State bar associations and is a former member of the American Bar Association’s board of governors.
A longtime Hudson resident, Bartlo became a Hudson Township trustee. He served on many corporate boards and was president of the Portage Country Club in Akron. He was also a founding member of the Serra Club of Akron, which promotes vocations to Catholic ministries.
He was an active member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Hudson and enjoyed travelling around the world with his wife Gwen. The two were married for 65 years.
“My parents were high school sweethearts at John Adams High School in Cleveland,” said Paul. “Together they visited 36 countries and five continents, with the highlight being a private audience with Pope John XXIII.”
After his retirement, the couple spent their winters in Naples, Florida, where they owned a home.
“My dad was an excellent and avid bridge player,” said Paul. “I remember that one time when he was attending a meeting while on the ABA board of governors, his bridge partner turned out to be the father of Microsoft’s Bill Gates.
“My dad had no idea who the famous son was. He told me about playing bridge with a guy who said his son was really good with computers and that if I had any computer problems or questions, he could hook me up with his partner’s son. I asked him who his bridge partner was and he said ‘William Gates and his son goes by the same name. They live in Seattle.’”
Paul said his father stressed the value of education.
“We all went to private high schools and top-notch colleges. My dad was a big supporter of Case Western. He set up an endowment to help fund scholarships for deserving students.”
Plans are in the works for a July memorial service honoring Bartlo. It will take place at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hudson.
He’s survived by his four sons, Paul, Peter, Kent and Daniel; his sister, Petrina (Savage); grandchildren Matt, Christopher, Jennifer (Dobbs), Bret, Wendy and Christopher Bartlo; great-grandchildren Leo and Quinn Bartlo, Vivian (Barley) and Kyle (Dobbs).
His wife Gwen, sisters, Jenny, Sally and Lee and brothers Sebastian and Joseph all preceded him in death.