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Former probate Judge Bill Spicer meets up with his successor Todd McKenney
SUSAN MAYBURY
Legal News Editor
Published: November 23, 2011
Former State Rep. Todd McKenney says his experience as both pastor and lawyer provides a strong skill set for his new role as Summit County Probate Court judge.
McKenney, who focused on estate planning, probate and trust administration while working as an attorney at Akron-based McKenney & Gingrich Co. also served for 14 years as a pastor for The Chapel in Akron and Green, one of the largest non-denominational churches in northeast Ohio.
“I think he is better prepared than when I first started,” said the recently-retired Judge Willard F. Spicer, referring to McKenney’s knowledge of probate law. Spicer left office July 31 after holding the post for 31 years. He met with McKenney Thursday at the courthouse shortly after Gov. John Kasich made the appointment official.
Both men agreed that in probate court it is often necessary to make tough decisions. And both have been up against making one of the toughest…deciding when to end a life.
In 1980 Spicer set precedent in Ohio law by becoming the first probate judge in the state to approve a request to remove a terminally ill patient from life support.
The case involved a 70-year-old Akron woman, Edna Marie Leach, who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was placed on a respirator after suffering from cardiac arrest in July of that year and she remained in a semi-comatose state for the next six months until Mrs. Leach's husband, Gifford, obtained permission from Judge Spicer to have them removed.
This case was surrounded in controversy due to threats made by the then-county coroner to file homicide charges as well as the unwillingness of local medical personnel to disconnect Mrs. Leach from the respirator. The Leach’s had to turn to an out-of-town doctor to perform the procedure.
“We finally found a Lutheran minister down in Steubenville who agreed to take her off (the support system),” Spicer said. “That’s how controversial it was.”
Spicer had ruled Mrs. Leach’s right to privacy should prevail over intrusive medical care and that the hospital and the state had no overriding interest in keeping her alive.
McKenney and his wife, Bethany, both faced the same difficult decision in 2005 when they had to take their 14-month-old son Noah off life support. Noah had been diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 11 months.
McKenney says that the experience puts all else in a clearer perspective.
“Other things don’t seem as difficult in comparison,” he said, adding that despite his personal convictions he “always seeks to follow the law.”
Spicer concurred that the law should be the guiding force but that in all tough decisions, “you have to use a lot of common sense whatever you do.”
McKenney said while probate court can be a platform for difficult cases he looks forward to working in the area of adoptions.
“I’m intrigued at the idea,” he said. “Generally it’s a happy outcome.
“I look at probate as a court of equity. Clean hands and a pure heart means a great deal.”
A formal swearing-in ceremony will be held Monday, Dec. 5 at the courthouse. Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor will administer the oath of office.
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