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Memorial of local legal legend set for Saturday
BENJAMIN WHITE
Associate Editor
Published: July 26, 2013
Tomorrow, the legal community in Summit and Portage counties will gather to celebrate the life of esteemed prosecutor and law professor Charles “Chuck” Kirkwood.
Kirkwood passed away at the age of 72 on July 2 after a short battle with cancer. Though he spent the twilight of his life in Florida where he died surrounded by family, those who knew him professionally plan to meet tomorrow at FOP Lodge #7 at 6 p.m. to remember their colleague.
Fred Zuch and Larry Vuillemin, who each worked with Kirkwood at the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, organized the event with the support of Kirkwood’s family in Florida.
“Chuck's approach to criminal prosecutions was unique,” said Zuch. “He was one of the earliest advocates of open file discovery as well as total disclosure regarding all available information. This was revolutionary at the time.
“He also had the ability to reduce a criminal case to its lowest common denominator. If you wanted the Readers Digest version of anything, Chuck was the man to see.”
The son of a Mennonite minister, Kirkwood graduated from Wheaton College and Northwestern Law School before working in private practice in Ravenna. After a few years, he took a job at the Portage County Prosecutor’s office, where he eventually supervised criminal trials.
“I was just someone who wanted to come to ‘Smalltown, USA’ and raise a family because I had no roots as a child,” Kirkwood recalled when interviewed in 1982 for a book about the Kent State University May 4 shootings.
In the 1970s, Kirkwood jumped to the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, where he supervised more than 1,500 cases in the criminal division and won the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s Prosecutor of the Year award in 1977.
In 1981, Kirkwood joined the faculty at The University of Akron School of Law, where he coached the mock trial team and won the Professor of the Year award after only two years.
“A lot of people would probably cite his trial ability, but for my money his greatest gift to the Akron legal community as a whole was the number of good lawyers he turned out from being at the law school,” said former Summit County Prosecutor Mike Callahan.
“People learned from him and his way of reasoning.”
One of those people was Mike Callahan’s wife, Judge Lynne Callahan of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, who first met Kirkwood as an Akron Law student.
“Kirkwood put me on the mock trial team, and I guess I don’t have any problem saying it changed my life,” she said.
“I don’t know if you can teach self-confidence, but if you can, he did.”
Judge Callahan credits her experience under Kirkwood for inspiring her to coach the St. Vincent-St. Mary mock trial team.
Tomorrow’s memorial, at the FOP Lodge #7 at 2610 Ley Dr. in Akron, will feature a social hour from 6 to 7 p.m., with the service immediately following. Snacks and a cash bar will be provided, and casual dress is expected. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that donations be sent to the Treasure Coast Hospice (www.tchospice.org). More information can be found at FLZ@sbcglobal.net.