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Gregory OLeary Obituary
February 18, 1948-September 18, 2020
Gregory Michael O'Leary was born in Utica NY, to parents who met in San Diego at the end of WWII. He grew up in El Cajon, CA attending Grossmont High School before graduating with Honors from Claremont Men's College in 1970. He received a Danforth Fellowship for graduate study at Stanford University, where he earned an MA in English and met his wife, Mary R. O'Neil. After attending Law School at UC Davis, Greg worked for Alaska Legal Services in Ketchikan and Anchorage. He then moved to Seattle where Mary and Greg were married in 1981, ten years after they first met.
In Seattle, Greg worked on Alaska land and resource issues with the firm of Wickwire, Goldmark and Schorr, which merged with Heller, Ehrman, White, McAuliffe in 1985. He was regarded as an authority on issues raised by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Later Greg went into solo practice focusing on natural resources law, including his representation of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe in the Huckleberry Land Exchange of 2002.
Throughout his well-lived life, Greg was an avid hiker and backpacker, meeting every summer with college friends in the Eastern Sierras. He read extensively in 20th century history, especially about WWII, in which his father Dennis A. O'Leary had served in the Pacific. Friends will always remember Greg for his kindness, intelligence, humor and wit.
Greg died seven years after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. He is survived by his wife, Mary R. O'Neil, retired from the University of Washington History Department, and their son, Michael J. O'Leary, TSA Officer at Sea-Tac Airport. He is also survived by three brothers, Brian, Dennis and Lawrence, and two sisters, Ellen Adams and Anne Delgado, but predeceased by his brother James in 1990.
Please sign Greg's online Guest Book at www.Legacy.com.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Gregory OLeary
Sponsored by The Family.
Rod Younker
February 3, 2021
My condolences to Mary and the family. Greg recruited me to Heller Ehrman in the early 1990s, and was a great mentor in my early years of practice. He later shared office space with us at Summit Law and became a good friend. He was a great lawyer and a prince of a person. He will be greatly missed.
Judy Treas
January 29, 2021
Having so many warm memories of Greg, I do wish we had had more time together after college in Claremont. His uproarious tales of summer jobs in Yosemite’s high sierra camps were not to be missed. The world was always a better place knowing Greg was in it. Now, it feels a bit emptier without him, his humor and big heart. Wishing Mary, David, and all those who loved Greg every solace in their loss.
Jack McCullough
November 20, 2020
Greg was a good friend at Heller in the 90's. I remember him fondly. My best to the family. He was a beacon of sanity.
Ronald L Biell
October 21, 2020
Greg was a great classmate and backpacking partner. Very erudite in English literature and noted for his quick wit. I remember him well from many backpacking trips and several visits to Seattle. He was always in good spirits and had a wonderful sense of humor. Will truly miss him.
Condolences to Mary and Michael.
Jacquelyn Weiss
October 20, 2020
My husband and Greg were fast friends since high school. Greg was the most generous friend. He was kind, smart and thoughtful. No wonder Gabe liked to check in with him so regularly. They had the same sense of humor, irony, political skepticism, and moral outrage, although Greg did not brag about that.
Outdoor adventures were epic treks through bear country with Michael and my family. And because my girls had these experiences, too, legends do continue.
I know caring for Greg in his last years was not easy, so thank you, Mary and Michael for making his journey easier. Rest in peace, Greg.
Randy Hilfman
September 29, 2020
I knew Greg for a number of years back when I was still involved in the legal profession. He was a sweet, funny, and caring person. I was really sorry to hear that he had recently shuffled off this mortal coil.
Judy O'Neil
September 28, 2020
Greg was truly a wonderful person. Intelligent, witty and genuinely an all around nice guy. Am sending along this picture from July 2017 as I think Greg's expression conveys his inherent kind caring nature, that will be missed by all who had the pleasure to know him. Our hearts go out to Mary, Michael and Greg's siblings and friends.
Judy O'Neil and family
Sister-in-Law
Kris Henderson
September 27, 2020
Please accept my condolences for your loss of Greg. I worked with him at Heller Ehrman, and several years later, I had the pleasure of seeing him occasionally when I worked at the King County Law Library and he came to use the library. He was a good man -- kind, funny and smart. May he rest in peace.
Sincerely,
Kris Henderson
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