Cromwell Adair DYER Jr.

1932 - 2015

DYER, Jr., Cromwell Adair
(1932-2015)

Adair Dyer, prominent attorney who crafted The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, died peacefully June 11, 2015 in Austin, TX, aged 82. The treaty, ratified in 93 countries including the United States, broadly protects children around the world from wrongful parental removal and retention.

"Not only did Adair give birth to this Convention," said Linda Silberman, the Martin Lipton Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law, "but he nourished and sustained it over numerous Special Commissions while at The Hague Conference. Later, as a lawyer back in Austin, Texas, he handled numerous Hague cases and helped to develop a global jurisprudence for the Convention. That there are now effective remedies to counter international child abduction is in large part due to the efforts of this one man."

He received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1961, and after a decade practicing law in Dallas attended Harvard University, receiving his Masters in International Law in 1971. In 1973 he was the first American appointed to The Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International Law (The Hague Conference). Beginning as First Secretary he rose to Deputy Secretary General before retiring from The Netherlands in 1997. He then moved to Austin and worked in private practice, principally in international law and child abduction cases.

He also lectured at universities worldwide, wrote appeals, and served often as a consultant and expert witness. He gave generously of his time and expertise to any parent in need and mentored colleagues through the State Department all-volunteer Hague Convention Attorney Network.

Adair appeared twice before the United States Supreme Court on Hague cases, most notably in Abbott v. Abbott, which was decided in his client's favor. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, in 2000 the American Bar Association presented him the Leonard J. Theberge Award, given "to honor those persons who have made distinguished, long-standing contributions to the development of private international law."

Born in St. Louis to parents Cromwell Adair Dyer Sr. and Tompie Leora (Giles), he was raised in Dallas and attended Highland Park High School before graduating from the Phillips Exeter Academy. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he also completed the R.O.T.C. program, and upon graduation in 1954 was commissioned a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He completed flight training and served flying Douglas Skyraiders from aircraft carriers in the Pacific.

In 1958 he married Margaret "Cissy" Peickert from Dallas and they had four children. In 1977 he married Susan Aynesworth from Waco and she joined him abroad and they later moved together to Austin.

Adair was predeceased by his sister Julia Ann McKnight and his brother Banton. Tragically he lived through the death of his son Jack in 1997 and his daughter Gretchen in 2009. He is survived by his beloved wife Susan, daughter Julia and son Stephen, and stepdaughters Carol Godso, Amanda McDonough, and Donnella Railsback, who looked to him as a father; nephews John and Adair McKnight, Banton and Bruner Dyer, and niece Pandora Slawson; and 18 grandchildren.

Adair spoke French and played tennis and loved jazz music and cooking (nobody ever chopped garlic so meticulously!) and good food and travel and his sheltie Sunny and those pesky cats and the Boston Red Sox-with three recent World Series titles he can now rest easy. He was a gentleman and a scholar in the best sense, and had a wonderful sense of humor. He lived a long and happy and successful life and will be sorely missed by family, friends, colleagues and clients alike for his wisdom and compassion.

Services are private to the family and invited guests. Contributions are welcomed for The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (http://www.missingkids.com/home).