BERNARD LISMAN

BERNARD LISMAN - FT. MYERS, Fla./ BURLINGTON, Vt. - Bernard Lisman, 96, formerly of Burlington, died on April 18, 2014, in Fort Myers, Fla., after a brief illness. Born in Burlington, he graduated from Burlington High School at the age of 16 and enrolled as a scholarship student at UVM, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior, awarded the Kidder medal in his senior year, and graduated in 1939 at age 20. He was awarded a scholarship at the Harvard Law School. Following his first year, he was selected for membership, based on his first year grades, in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. In his third year, he was the winning oralist in the finals of the Ames Moot Court competition. In June 1942, he graduated from law school, married Natalie Kling, and reported for duty as a private in the United States Army. He entered the Army as a private and, after basic training, was shipped to England. While his unit was awaiting further orders, he was assigned to Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower's Allied Headquarters staff in London to work on plans for the D-Day invasion; five days after the invasion, he was transferred to Paris; he was promoted to Second Lieutenant before moving with the G-1 Headquarters section to Frankfurt. He returned to Burlington and worked in the law offices of his brother, Louis. In 1952, they formed Lisman & Lisman, with which he remained until his retirement. He was primarily a trial lawyer and was listed in the first edition of Best Lawyers. He was appointed a municipal judge in 1949 by Governor Ernest Gibson, at the time thought, at 29, to be the youngest judge in the country. He served as a member of the Burlington City Council in the 1950s. He was active in the greater Burlington community as a founder of the Sara Holbrook Community Center, the Boys Club (now the Boys and Girls Club) and the Vermont-New Hampshire Red Cross Blood Center. He was a trustee of the Vermont Law School, a director of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and President of the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association. After retirement, he and Natalie moved to Florida, where he was an active supporter of the American Heart Association, serving as grand marshal of the Fort Myers Heart Walk for a number of years. He was predeceased by his wife, Natalie; daughter, Judy; and brothers, Louis and Irving. He is survived by his nephews, Todd Lisman of Newport Beach, Calif., Bruce Lisman of Shelburne, and Carl Lisman of Charlotte; as well as great-nieces and great-nephews. A funeral service will be held today, April 22, 2014, at the Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, 188 North Prospect St., Burlington, at 2 p.m. Interment will follow in Hebrew Holy Society Cemetery, Patchen Road, South Burlington. Arrangements are by Boucher and Pritchard Funeral Directors. Donations in his name can be made to any of the organizations he so energetically supported.