JERRY GILL ELLIOTT

November 25, 1936 - April 5, 2010 Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Jerry G. Elliott, 73, of Lawrence, died Monday in Lawrence Memorial Hospital after a long battle with cancer. Elliott was named to serve on the Court of Appeals in 1987 by then Governor Mike Hayden to fill a newly created 8th position on the bench. At the time of his death, he was the most senior judge on that panel and longest serving jurist on that court ever, said Chief Judge Gary W. Rulon. Elliott was known as one of the most active and popular jurists on the bench. During his tenure, Elliott heard some 2,354 cases and wrote at least 232 published opinions. He served 42 years - the longest tenure on record - as a member of the Board of Editors of the Kansas Bar Journal, said Don Bostwick, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Wichita who has known Elliott during most of his career. Elliott spent his entire legal career serving as a member of various bar association committees, committees of the Kansas Judicial Council, and even the Judicial Council itself. He taught at the University of Kansas and Washburn law schools. He also taught at the National Advocacy Center in South Carolina. He was an active member in the Wichita, Lawrence and Kansas Bar Associations and helped to create the Judge Hugh Means Inn of Court in Lawrence in 1992. In 2004 Elliott received the KBA Phil Lewis Medal of Distinction for his outstanding and conspicuous service in the administration of justice and the law. He received the KBA Outstanding Service Award in 1982 and 1995. Born in Fort Scott, Elliott began attending Hutchinson Community College while a senior in high school. As a Hutchinson Community College freshman, he was a state junior college debate champion and finished third in the 1955 National Junior College Debate Championship. Elliott went on to the University of Kansas as a sophomore after receiving a Navy ROTC scholarship. He graduated with an AB degree in 1958. Elliott served three years in the Navy ending his career as a Lieutenant. He served for nearly two years on an Admiral's staff as an assistant in the anti-air warfare office. He attended the University of Kansas Law School from 1961 until he graduated in 1964, receiving an LLB with distinction. He was a recipient of the C.C. Steward Award in Law as the outstanding member of his graduating class. After serving two years as Judge Brown's law clerk, Elliott was hired as an associate at the Wichita firm of Foulston, Siefkin, Powers & Eberhardt. He became a partner in the firm two years later. Elliott was the former president of the Kansas Chapter of the Leukemia Society of America. He was also a member of the Music Theatre of Wichita and helped with the revival of the Marple Theater in Wichita. Elliott was particularly proud of his accomplishments with Accent on Kids, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that constructed and ran two Ronald McDonald Houses in Wichita for families of chronically ill children. After moving to Lawrence in 1987, he became involved in the work of the Lawrence Humane Society and later with the work of VanGo Mobile Arts, Inc., the arts organization for high needs and under-served children. Elliott's devotion to young people was evident in all areas of his life. Elliott is survived by his wife, Debra Duncan, also a lawyer; a son, Hunter Pearse Elliott of St. Louis; a sister, Nancy Burke of Independence, Mo.; and a brother Jim P. Elliott of Hutchinson. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, April 9, at Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 701 SW Eighth Avenue, Topeka, KS, 66603. Reception at the church to follow. Donations in lieu of flowers should be made to VanGo Mobile Arts, Inc., the Lawrence Humane Society, or the Accent on Kids, Inc., in Wichita. An expanded obituary can be seen at www.warrenmcelwain.com