We are saddened to say goodbye to our colleague, RICHARD N. BLEWETT, who passed away on March 12, 2017 at age 91. Mr. Blewett was a titan of the Buffalo legal community for over 65 years. He mentored many young, and not-so-young, attorneys over the years as he was always the “go-to” guy who had probably experienced what we were looking for somewhere over his long career.
Mr. Blewett grew up in Buffalo, attending school at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School and Lafayette High School. He served in the US Army in France during World War II and was injured there at the young age of nineteen carrying an injured soldier to safety . He spent two years recovering in various Army hospitals before returning to Buffalo to complete his education at Canisius College and Buffalo Law School.
He became a member of Cohen & Lombardo, PC in July of 1951 and remained there his entire career. No one in his family was an attorney and, growing up, he did not know any attorneys. We are so very glad that he found his way to the law as he has set such a wonderful example for other attorneys in how to practice as a gentleman and a professional. He said in his biography, “…as far as my legacy is concerned, I have no great desires other than to be remembered as a competent lawyer who tried to do the best that he could for his clients and for the profession and for society in general”.
He was recognized by the Bar Association of Erie County with the Lawyer of the Year Award in 1996. He was recognized by Canisius College with the LaSalle Medal in 1967, which is the highest medal that Canisius awards to alumni. He was President of the Canisius College
Alumni Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild (now the St. Thomas Moore Guild), the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo and the Bar Association of Erie County. He was Treasurer of the Bar Association of Erie County. He volunteered for Catholic Charities, the United Way, the Kiwanis Club of Wales, the Board of Cantilician Center for Learning and the Cantilician Foundation, and Neighborhood Legal Services. Quite the impressive list of volunteer activities!
He was married to Barbara Jean Burkhardt and they had three children. They moved to Wales, New York in 1967, where he was the municipal attorney from 1968 until 1990. He enjoyed living in the country in spite of the long drive to the city every day.
We will miss you, Mr. B.