Herbert Fairfax Leary Jr. ’32

FAX LEARY, one of our most distinguished lawyers, died at his home in Villanova, Penn., May 17, 1990. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton and from the Harvard Law School. He practiced briefly in N.Y. before WWII, and in 1941, went to Washington to serve on the legal staff of the War Production Board, and from there was commissioned a lieutenant in the Army. By war's end he had become It. colonel.

In 1946 Fax began a long career that combined teaching and the practice of law in Philadelphia, retiring from active practice as a partner in the firm of Saul, Ewing, Remick, and Saul, where he specialized as bond counsel for schools, municipalities, banks, and other businesses. He was the legal counsel for the General State Authority in Harrisburg.

Fax's greatest achievement, however, was not in the practice of law, but in the shaping of the law itself. He became an authority on the Uniform Commercial Code, and over the years drafted many of the provisions in the code. Fax was also an inspiring teacher. At various times he taught at Penn, Temple, Delaware, and Widener. Along the way he found time to act with Ralph Nadees Public Research Group, and to become a trustee of the bankrupt Pennsylvania Railroad. He was a member of the D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, and American Bar assns., and a life member of the American Law Inst. He received the Pennsylvania Bar's Fidelity Award in 1971. Survivors are his wife, Sarah; a daughter, Sally Fairfax Englund; two sons, Michael and Brian; a sister, Neville C. Scull; and five grandchildren. We join them in mourning the loss of this brilliant and dedicated man.

The Class of 1932