Charles Blakey Blackmar

Blackmar, Charles Blakey (Continued) As a judge of the Missouri Su-preme Court, he wrote many im-portant opinions shaping Mis-souri law. Among his notewor-thy decisions was his dissent in the Nancy Cruzan right-to-die case, in which he argued that families, rather than the state, should make the decision re-garding how to let a patient in a permanently vegetative condi-tion "die with dignity," a posi-tion that ultimately prevailed. He also wrote in support of the rights of scientists to pursue stem-cell research. As a lawyer, scholar and judge he was a life-long advocate for the protection of individual liberties and equal protection of the laws for all persons. Judge Blackmar possessed a legendary sense of humor, con-sistently eliciting both laughs and groans from his audiences. He was also an avid baseball fan and a self-described mediocre golfer. Most important, Judge Blackmar's family always came first. He was predeceased by his first wife Ellen Day (Bonnifield) Blackmar; son Charles Allen Blackmar; and granddaughter Jessie Alpaugh; and he is sur-vived by loving wife Jeanne (Stephens) Lee Blackmar, Bel-leair FL; sister Mary Blackmar Shelden (Russell), son Thomas Blackmar (David Conkey), Min-neapolis MN; daughter Lucy Blackmar (David Alpaugh), Los Angeles CA; daughter Elizabeth Blackmar (William Leach), New York City NY; son George Black-mar (Marianne), San Diego CA; daughters-in-law Karen (Green-berg) Blackmar, Kansas City MO, and Tara (English) Blackmar, Burnsville MN; stepson James Lee (Lesley), Washington D.C.; stepson William Stephens Lee (Linda), Tampa FL; and step-daughter Luci Lee (Rick Caplan), Prairie Village, KS; eight grand-children, seven step grandchil-dren, and one great-grandchild; numerous nieces and nephews; and by his beloved dog, Sugar-plum.Services will be at 11:00 A.M. Friday, January 26, 2007 at Country Club Christian Church, Kansas City MO. Visitation will immediately precede the serv-ice; private interment will be at Mt. Washington Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family re-quests memorial donations to The Charles Blackmar Fund at St. Louis University Law School, St. Louis, MO or the Missouri Bar Foundation, Jefferson City MO. Arrangements under the care of D.W. Newcomer's & Son's Stine and McClure Chapel, Kansas City, Missouri. 816-931-7777.