James Thomas Danaher III

James Thomas Danaher, III Services will be held on September 4, 2007 for James Danaher, who died unexpectedly but peacefully on August 21st while vacationing in New York City with Kathleen Danaher, his wife of 29 years. He was 77. Details for the service can be found at www.jamesdanaher.com. Mr. Danaher was born on Friday, September 13, 1929 in West Haven, Connecticut to James and Mae Danaher. His father was a bricklayer who struggled to find work to feed his family during the Depression. To help the family, Jim Danaher had many jobs. He was a hod carrier for the bricklayers, worked on the mail train and delivered heating oil. In his first job at age 9, he shoveled snow for $5 per winter, which he considered good wages if it didn't snow much. He managed to excel in school, and defied a teacher's prediction that he would never make it to college by receiving a scholarship to prestigious Dartmouth College, and graduating in 1951. He remained loyal to Dartmouth throughout his life. Mr. Danaher was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency directly from college and moved to Washington, DC, where he became engaged to Patricia McGinty, who also worked in the CIA. As the Cold War grew more intense, they were transferred to Frankfurt, Germany and married there. Mr. Danaher took pride in a number of his assignments with the CIA, which included dramatic evacuations of critical personnel and their families from Russian controlled sectors to the West. The family, with twin sons, moved back to the U.S. in 1954. Mr. Danaher attended Stanford Law School, where he worked his way through school and graduated second in his class. He took a job with the Los Angeles firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. After one year with the firm he had enough of the large firm lifestyle, and he explained why at the firm's annual dinner. The occasion was remembered with the "Jim Danaher Award," given annually to the most outspoken associate. Now with five sons and a wife to support, Jim Danaher joined forces with Dave Fletcher, a Stanford classmate, to form the Palo Alto law firm of Danaher & Fletcher in 1961. The firm would eventually include other prominent Santa Clara attorneys and became Danaher, Fletcher, Gunn, Ware and Freidenrich. Jim Danaher always considered himself a "people's lawyer" and helped many people in wide range of matters. He never forgot his humble beginnings, and he made pro bono work a priority, particularly work for the poor. He became one of the top family law attorneys in the area, in part because of his compassion for people and families in distress. During his career he also handled many cases that attracted media attention, including a successful defense in an attempted spousal murder case that featured arsenic in the spice cabinet. In later years he was sought out for his skills as a mediator and arbitrator. Jim Danaher was passionate about fighting for civil rights, and he used his position as a lawyer to do so. He and his law partner Leo Ware answered Robert Kennedy's call for lawyers to travel to the South to stand as witnesses in the struggle for voting rights for African Americans. Under the auspices of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, they traveled to Jackson, Mississippi in the summer of 1965, and stood between hostile, baton-wielding policemen and African-Americans marching for the right to vote. He and Mr. Ware worked out of a tiny office in Jackson that was barricaded to prevent bomb attacks by locals who didn't appreciate the "Yankee lawyers" upsetting the social order. The two of them also spoke at local bar associations to try to recruit Mississippi lawyers into the civil rights movement, with limited success. Jim Danaher frequently introduced Leo Ware as "the only Republican civil rights lawyer you'll ever meet." Until his death he remained active in the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and was a Lifetime Trustee of the organization. The Asian-American Bar Association of Santa Clara County recognized him with a lifetime service award for his contributions to civil rights. He was also active with the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, and served on the President's Advisory Council for the Foundation. Mr. Danaher felt a responsibility to contribute to his profession. He served as President of the Santa Clara Bar Association, as President of the Palo Alto Bar Association and as a member of the Stanford Law School Board of Visitors. As president of the County Bar he introduced the practice, unpopular with some members of the judiciary, of having the Bar collect and publish ratings of the judges in the County. He also mentored young lawyers and helped the Santa Clara and San Mateo Courts by serving as a volunteer judge pro tem. Mr. Danaher cultivated personal relationships with many members of the local Bar and tremendously enjoyed these relationships. Mr. Danaher also served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Altos, and was elected to the Los Altos City Council. When development pressure threatened the peninsula foothills, he was recruited by the Committee for Green Foothills, where his volunteer service was central in the successful fight to limit development of Palo Alto's Coyote Hill. He continued to assist the non-profit for many years. Although Jim Danaher was active in the community, he will be remembered most for his gregarious nature, for his warmth and kindness to friends and strangers of all races and classes, and for the help he provided to thousands people both in and outside of his law practice. He was a strong Stanford supporter and loved Stanford football and basketball. His favorite place in the world was Fallen Leaf Lake. For a few weeks each summer for almost 50 years, he rented a small, rustic cabin at Fallen Leaf where he loved to swim, sail, hike, read and enjoy the company of family and friends. Jim Danaher is survived by his wife, Kathleen, his brother Francis Danaher, sons Mike, Steve, Jim, Peter, and Tom, stepson Blaine Rogers, and grandchildren Patrick, Brooke, Justin and Eva. He loved his family and took tremendous pleasure in their adventures and successes. He will be remembered with great love and fond memories. Any contributions in Mr. Danaher's honor may be made online or via check to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (www.lawyerscommittee.org). Please include "in honor of Jim Danaher" on the memo line of the check or in the appropriate location on the Committee's website.