David A. Handzo ’76

Dave died June 15, 2022, several weeks after learning he had a rare, asymptomatic cancer.

He grew up in New Jersey. At Princeton, he rowed lightweight crew (as he did at Choate), played tuba in the Band, and majored in history. Dave’s love of history expanded lifelong through reading, discourse, travel, and “doing”: restoring old houses himself, using 19th-century tools for carpentry and woodworking; building his own wooden rowing shell; and planning for a wooden skipjack sailboat in retirement.

A 1980 law graduate of Michigan, Dave was a litigation partner of Jenner & Block in Washington, D.C., for 30 years. Elected a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he won his many civil and criminal trials and mentored younger lawyers until retirement in 2021. His professional path returned him to Princeton recently, working with two longtime economics professors whose respect he earned. He also maintained an active pro bono practice focusing on the disadvantaged, continuing his commitment from his early career at the D.C. Public Defender Service.

Dave always strove for the top, and 2021 found him summiting in the Rockies. As his 50th birthday approached, having typically run 10-Ks, he set the goal of a marathon fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He succeeded, ran the 2007 Boston, and was still running half-marathon distances in the last weeks of his life at Mayo Clinic. His greatest accomplishment, though, was intangible: earning respect from all, even foes.

Dave loved chocolate, pranks, being barefoot, hiking (sometimes while barefoot), his family, friends, and colleagues.

Dave is survived by his wife, Mary Jane Dodson ’76; brother George ’69; nephew Ben Handzo ’04 and his wife Kim Nortman ’04; sister Catherine; and three other nephews and their families.