The Memorial Wall

On the evening of April 20, 2024, Mickie Reinertson from Huntington Beach passed away after a 7 year battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was born in Modesto, California on April 11, 1939 to Edna (de la Motte) Reinertson and Bernard Reinertson. In 1957, Mickie graduated from Series High School in California. He attended Concordia Oakland and went on to graduate from Concordia Teacher’s College in Seward Nebraska where he met his wife, Betty Kirchhof. He and Betty were married in June of 1961 in Iowa. Mickie accepted his first teaching job in Sacramento California in 1961 at Town and Country Lutheran School. He then went on to teach at several other Lutheran Schools: St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Round Lake Illinois, Faith Lutheran School in Whittier, St. Paul’s Garden Grove and St. Paul’s Lutheran in Orange, California. Toward the end of his career he became principal at Hephatha Lutheran School in Anaheim Hills where he served until his retirement. After retirement, he became a substitute teacher in Garden Grove Unified School District where he enjoyed instructing all grades from Kindergarten to High School and even taught music. Mickie had many hobbies and passions. He loved to play, coach and watch all sports. Throughout his teaching career he coached everything from basketball to track and field, but he especially loved baseball/softball as a player, coach and manager. He had a love for music and played both the trumpet and ukulele. He enjoyed many years of playing ukulele with his fellow musicians at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach. Mickie loved stories both telling them and hearing them. He loved to laugh and kept his humor until the very end of his life. When asked how old he was on his 85th birthday he said,” Twenty one?” He loved his family and was a wonderful father, grandfather and great grandfather. During his last days he was able to enjoy the friends and family members who came to visit and would recall great memories and stories from the past. He is survived by his brother, Jerome (Jerry) Reinertson, his wife, Betty Reinertson, his three daughters, Denise Trok, (Steve Trok), Brenda Hawkins, (Jim Hawkins), Coleen Barrier, (Chris Barrier). His six grandchildren, Joshua Cox, Joseph Brintane Cox,( Cat Paul), Jacklyn Chen, (Kevin Pegg), Madeline Chen, Nathan Trok, (Ashley Trok), Allison Trok (Lorenz Sarcletti), and his three great grand children, Clara and Evan Trok and Charlotte Cox. 

Elliot M. Finkle: October 16, 1940 – January 31, 2017. Resident of Los Gatos Elliot Finkle died peacefully in his home. Born in Newport News, Virginia, he attended medical school at the University of VA in Charlottesville, specializing in radiology. He served in the U.S. Army as a physician in the Vietnam war. He married the love of his life, Betty, and moved to California soon after. Elliot was a respected radiologist for 30 years with the San Jose Radiological Medical Group. He and his wife of 48 years raised two loving children in Los Gatos.

He was a very adventurous man. He loved sailing, whitewater kayaking, flying small airplanes, scuba diving, motorcycle riding, rock climbing, hang-gliding, among many other outdoor activities. Elliot fought a courageous battle with Parkinson’s. He will always be remembered for his quiet, kind, selfless, and gentle ways as well as all of the laughter he brought through his wit and dry sense of humor.

He is survived by his wife, Betty, his son Kevin, his daughter Amy, his granddaughter Makiah, and two grand-doggies Willow and Ginger.

June 28, 1936 - April 28, 2024 Gary O. Concoff, 87, of Los Angeles, California, passed away on April 28, 2024, after a prolonged illness.
Born June 28, 1936, to Evelyn and Nathan Concoff, Gary played centerfield at Los Angeles High School and went on to study Accounting at UCLA and received a JD from Harvard Law School.

In 1962, Gary returned to Los Angeles where he began a successful career in Entertainment Law which remained his passion for the next five decades. His broad knowledge spanned topics including litigation, corporate law, bankruptcy, intellectual property, accounting, and personal service agreements. He adeptly guided his clients through the risks inherent to their business and creative endeavors. He was among the first to recognize and develop the field of international co-production. Gary was generous in sharing his time and knowledge with subsequent generations of Entertainment Attorneys including his instrumental roles in founding and nurturing the growth of the UCLA Entertainment Symposium. He took particular pride in the many successes of those he mentored.

Also in 1962, Gary met the love of his life, Jean Fogelman. They were married the following year, a loving union that lasted the 62 years until his death. They had two children, Cory and Andy. Gary valued love for his family above all else. First as a son and brother, and later as a husband, father, and grandfather, Gary delighted in spending time with his family, reminiscing at Sunday gatherings, and providing earnest and sage guidance and encouragement. Those of us lucky enough to benefit from Gary's love felt cherished, supported, and empowered.

He loved supporting the interests of his sons and grandchildren, attending their games, recitals, and other performances. With the family home aptly situated beyond the centerfield fence, he was a prominent contributor to the Golden Age of Rustic Canyon Park Sports. Gary was an avid supporter of UCLA athletics and an ardent fan of the San Francisco Giants.

Gary is survived by Jean, sons Cory and Andy, Andy's wife Simone, grandchildren Eden, Sydney, and Quintin, as well as his sisters Laurie and Robbi and their families.

Judge Robert F. “Bob” Fischer, who retired from the Appellate Court of Maryland, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease April 16 at the Pineapple House at Sapphire Lakes, a Naples, Florida, assisted living facility.

The former Ellicott City and Grasonville resident was 92.

“I first met Bob in the fall of 1994 when I joined the court, and I must be his No. 1 fan,” said U.S. District Court Judge Ellen L. Hollander.

“He commanded love and affection from the bench and the bar,” she said. “He was warm, humble, collegial and aimed his rulings for the court by the demands of the law. He had a dignity about him and it was an honor to serve with him and be his colleague.”

Retired Appellate Court Judge Paul E. Alpert was both a colleague and longtime friend.

“Bob was just a terrific fellow,” Judge Alpert said. “He was very honest and courageous and he took positions and didn’t care if you agreed or not. He was very straightforward.”

Robert Frederick Fischer, son of John Ernest Fischer, a compositor, also known as a typesetter, for The Baltimore Sun, and Anna Karis Fischer, a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Westport, on land where his grandfather, an immigrant form Lithuania, owned and operated a beer garden.

His mother died when he was 10, and his father nine years later.

Judge Fischer told The Sun in 1988 that he grew up “with no prospects at all. I know how hard it is to advance in the world.

“I am somebody who struggled.”

In Judge Fischer’s case, the way out was wrestling, where he became a champion on the varsity team, along with his brother, Ernest Fischer, at the old Southern High School. There, in 1946, he won his first of two Maryland Scholastic Association championships.

“All of my friends went to reform school. We didn’t because of athletics,” he told The Sun.

At the University of Maryland, College Park, he was a wrestling champion for two years and undefeated his senior year.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1954, he enlisted in the Air Force where he served from 1955 to 1958 as a jet fighter instructor in Greenville, Mississippi.

After being discharged, he worked as a probation officer by day while studying law at night at the University of Baltimore.

He earned his law degree and passed the bar in 1961 then became an associate partner at Pierson & Pierson in Towson, where he worked for a decade.

In 1969, Judge Fischer, and his wife, the former Sally Watson, a Baltimore County public schools educator, moved to Ellicott City where he established a law practice, and also served as a Howard County assistant solicitor and in 1972 county solicitor.

A Democrat, in 1973, he was appointed a District Court judge, and four years later, to the Circuit Court by Gov. Blair Lee III, and in 1987 became administrative judge of the Howard County Circuit Court.
Judge Fischer was appointed to the Maryland Appellate Court, the second highest court in the state, in 1988.

“The reputation he forged on the Circuit Court reflected a genuine concern for the underdog,” The Sun reported at the time of his appointment to the Appellate Court.

Judge Fischer at times earned the ire of prosecutors for giving defendants a second chance.

“If I thought a person was sincere about changing his pattern of life, I was inclined to give them an opportunity, if it was feasible,” he told the newspaper. “I stuck my neck out a lot. I’ve taken chances on people who were not entirely safe risks, and fortunately, most of them turned out well.”

He added: “If I found out they were not going to change and stop committing crimes, I had to warehouse them. But, I believe you should give people an opportunity.”

Judge Fischer developed his views of state prisons when he was a young lawyer.

“I knew of several young men who went to prison, and they were brutalized and raped,” he told The Sun. “I realize managing violent people is not easy, and the prisons are overcrowded. So, protecting the average person is extremely difficult.”

Judge Fischer, who once sentenced a 15-year-old Laurel boy convicted of rape to five years in the county jail “because I did not want to put him in the state prison system. It would have ruined his life.”

“He was a very good lawyer and judge and his record speaks for itself,” Judge Alpert said. “He was very well respected as a lawyer and as an Appellate Court judge.”

“He had an extraordinary judicial temperament, warmth and charm, and these are traits that stand out in my mind,” Judge Hollander said. “Appellate Court is so different from being a Circuit Court judge because you function as a group.”

Judge Fischer retired in 1997, but for a few years afterward, continued part time as a senior judge in various courts throughout the state until moving to Naples in 2002.

Judge Fischer, who had been elected to the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, enjoyed painting landscapes, making furniture, reading, and playing tennis and golf.

He was a former communicant of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City and was a member of Trinity-By-The-Cove Episcopal Church in Naples.

In addition to his wife of 67 years, a retired special education teacher, Judge Fischer is survived by a son, Kurt J. Fischer, of Towson; a daughter, Keri Corless, of Wellesley, Massachusetts; and five grandchildren.

On the evening of April 24, 2024, Debra Helene Pressman peacefully passed away in her home, surrounded by loved ones. At age 70, after 20 years of managing Parkinson's Disease symptoms, Debra died from the natural progression of the disease. Through to the end of her life, Debra maintained her humor, grace, spunk, and loving, gracious heart. May we remember her timeless essence this way.

Debra is survived by her husband Daniel Shifflett, who has provided her with abundant love, care, and adventure since they met in 2003. Together, they enjoyed being outdoors, walking, kayaking, traveling, listening to music, cooking, gardening, and spending time with family and friends. They were married in 2010 and created a warm, welcoming, and colorful home in a forested neighborhood in Charlottesville. Daniel dedicated himself to ensuring Debbie had paramount love, care, and comfort throughout her illness.

Debra is deeply adored and missed by all who love her, especially her three grown children, Rachel, Sam, and Will Gimbel; their respective spouses, Graham "Ocean" Huff, Taylor Blakin, and Jenny Horn Gimbel; and her two grandchildren, Andros and Avishai. She is also survived and deeply missed by her sisters, Mindy and Lisa, her nephew Lucas, and her nieces Risa and Miriam.

Debra Pressman was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 19, 1953, to her late parents, Stanley Pressman and Ritalee Woronoff. Her mother passed away when she was 8 years old and her father married Charlotte Bomstein, who raised her and her four siblings.

Debbie studied at the University of Virginia and received a degree in Speech Pathology. While living in Charlottesville, Debbie met Woodrow Gimbel. They moved to Baltimore to be close to the Pressman family, where they married and had three children. They later moved their young family back to Charlottesville and fostered their baby nephew Lucas after the tragic passing of Debbie's sister, Ilene. A dedicated and fiercely loving mother, Debbie raised four children with a commitment to health, education, social justice, loving-kindness, integrity, and unwavering heart-guided values. When the kids were older, she joined the team at ScholarOne, a local software company, and mastered many new skills working with editors and staff of scholarly journals. She retired in 2010 when her Parkinson's symptoms made it difficult to work.

Loved by many dear friends, they knew her to be caring and generous; down-to-earth and fun, with a playful and dry sense of humor; committed to justice and integrity; creative, with a keen eye for beauty and style; vastly intelligent and always seeking to learn new skills; and a voracious reader. Debbie enjoyed many rich years of gardening, making jewelry, pottery, photography, cooking, running long distances, hiking, traveling, and writing.

Providing service as a community leader and educator, Debbie was a founding member of Chevrei Tzedek, a Jewish congregation in Baltimore; founding organizer of a local Parkinson's support group; active member of the Parkinson's Action Network and Michael J. Fox Foundation; and a passionate natural childbirth education instructor.

Debra was an inspiration and support to those whose lives she touched. May her memory be a blessing. May the One who brings Peace and Love to the Universe bring Peace and Love to us all. Amen.