1923
John
2015
John H. Bauckham
March 16, 1923 — September 11, 2015
Bauckham, John H.
John H. Bauckham was 92 years of age when he passed on September 11, 2015. He was born March 16, 1923 in Huntington Woods near Royal Oak, Michigan to Henry and Mable Bauckham, two immigrants from England. His father was a draftsman with the architectural firm of Albert Kahn in Detroit and an organist and teacher at St. John's Episcopal Church in Royal Oak, Michigan. He also served as clerk of the village (now city) of Huntington Woods, Michigan.
John went to Royal Oak High School where he was president of the school's Honor Society for two terms and played on the school's basketball, football, and tennis teams. He attended the University of Michigan undergraduate school and law school from which he graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree in 1949. John continued a close relationship with his two best grade school and high school friends, Jim Fields and Bill Davis, along with law school friends Jan and Attorney Jack Bowie, throughout their lives.
Upon graduation he came to Kalamazoo and was associated with Attorney Harry F. Smith who retired some seven years later. The law firm later became Bauckham, Sparks, Lohrstorfer, Thall & Seeber, PC, specializing in municipal law with emphasis on township law.
John, with his partner Smith and Kalamazoo Township Clerk, Colonel Joseph A. Parisi, Jr., incorporated the Michigan Townships Association in 1953 which he continued to represent as its attorney until his death in 2015. His firm remains its attorney to date. In this capacity he was active in litigation as amicus curiae in a multiple of cases of statewide importance to municipalities and their inhabitants in the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, and in the federal district courts and appellate courts with a substantial amount of success. He was known as the "grand poobah" of Michigan township law in the Kalamazoo Gazette. As attorney for the Michigan Townships Association he was the author of the township book titled "Authorities & Responsibilities of Michigan Officials, Boards, and Commissions" currently in its twelfth updated reprint, valued and relied upon by most all of the officials of the 1242 townships in Michigan and is the Association's most popular publication.
John was president of Kalamazoo County Lawyer's Bar Association in 1976-1977 and a lecturer at the Public Corporations Law Section of the State Bar Association, the Township's Supervisor's Association, annual Township educational conferences and district meetings of the Michigan Townships Association, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. His firm represented and still represents some 100 townships in and around the Kalamazoo area.
John was a volunteer in the United States Air Corps in World War II, and during three years of that war active in an Engineer Aviation Battalion, the Army Air Cadets, and a B-29 flight engineer training unit.
He was married to Nancy Bassett in 1944 (deceased) with whom he was the father of four children: Thomas A., David C., and Robert H. Bauckham, and Laurie J. Callander, all of whom survive; a grandfather to six grandchildren, Ian David Bauckham, Jessica (Bauckham) Wilmarth, Rachael Bauckham, Kate (Callander) Nelson, Neil Callander, and Susan Callander; and seven great grandchildren, all of whom he was extremely proud.
He was later married to Dorothy Bowers (deceased), Margaret Hoogendorn (deceased), and in 1993 to Rosalie Kirklin Bauckham, who very fortunately and importantly survives.
John was a member and past president of the Kalamazoo County Lawyer's Bar Association, a former Hearing Chairman of the State Attorney Discipline Board, a life member of Post 50 of the Kalamazoo Elks, past President and member of the Kalamazoo Knights of the Round Table International Service Club, and a member of the Sunset Shore Property Owners Association at South Haven. He was a former Vice President of the Kalamazoo Junior Chamber of Commerce, and previously on the Board of Trustees of the St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Kalamazoo. He was a life member of the National Registry of Who's Who published in 1999 and a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation since 1996 where he was recognized by colleagues "for outstanding legal ability". He was listed in the Martindale Hubbell National Legal Directory in its highest "A" rated category established by recorded opinions of his colleagues.
John's main interests, outside of the practice of municipal law, were his wife during the last 20 plus years, his house in South Haven bordering Lake Michigan, golf, reading, traveling, and his four children and six grandchildren. His interest in Township government and its preservation as the most publically reachable and constituent responsible form of government never wavered and remained of primary importance to him throughout his legal career. His counseling and legal assistance will be sorely missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
Friends may visit with John's family from 10am-12pm on Saturday, Sept. 19, at Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Westside Chapel, 3926 S. 9th Street, with a service to celebrate John's life beginning at 12:00 PM. Rev. Timothy W. Seeber will officiate. Memorial contributions may be directed to Kalamazoo Gospel Mission or Ministry with Community.
**CHARITIES**
Kalamazoo Gospel Mission
526 N. Burdick Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
269-345-2974
http://www.kzoogospel.org /
Ministry with Community
440 N Church St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
(269) 343-6073
www.ministrywithcommunity.org /
3926 S. 9th St.
Kalamazoo, MI, US, 49009
3926 S. 9th St.
Kalamazoo, MI, US, 49009
John H. Bauckham was 92 years of age when he passed on September 11, 2015. He was born March 16, 1923 in Huntington Woods near Royal Oak, Michigan to Henry and Mable Bauckham, two immigrants from England. His father was a draftsman with the architectural firm of Albert Kahn in Detroit and an organist and teacher at St. John's Episcopal Church in Royal Oak, Michigan. He also served as clerk of the village (now city) of Huntington Woods, Michigan.
John went to Royal Oak High School where he was president of the school's Honor Society for two terms and played on the school's basketball, football, and tennis teams. He attended the University of Michigan undergraduate school and law school from which he graduated with a Juris Doctorate degree in 1949. John continued a close relationship with his two best grade school and high school friends, Jim Fields and Bill Davis, along with law school friends Jan and Attorney Jack Bowie, throughout their lives.
Upon graduation he came to Kalamazoo and was associated with Attorney Harry F. Smith who retired some seven years later. The law firm later became Bauckham, Sparks, Lohrstorfer, Thall & Seeber, PC, specializing in municipal law with emphasis on township law.
John, with his partner Smith and Kalamazoo Township Clerk, Colonel Joseph A. Parisi, Jr., incorporated the Michigan Townships Association in 1953 which he continued to represent as its attorney until his death in 2015. His firm remains its attorney to date. In this capacity he was active in litigation as amicus curiae in a multiple of cases of statewide importance to municipalities and their inhabitants in the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court, and in the federal district courts and appellate courts with a substantial amount of success. He was known as the "grand poobah" of Michigan township law in the Kalamazoo Gazette. As attorney for the Michigan Townships Association he was the author of the township book titled "Authorities & Responsibilities of Michigan Officials, Boards, and Commissions" currently in its twelfth updated reprint, valued and relied upon by most all of the officials of the 1242 townships in Michigan and is the Association's most popular publication.
John was president of Kalamazoo County Lawyer's Bar Association in 1976-1977 and a lecturer at the Public Corporations Law Section of the State Bar Association, the Township's Supervisor's Association, annual Township educational conferences and district meetings of the Michigan Townships Association, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. His firm represented and still represents some 100 townships in and around the Kalamazoo area.
John was a volunteer in the United States Air Corps in World War II, and during three years of that war active in an Engineer Aviation Battalion, the Army Air Cadets, and a B-29 flight engineer training unit.
He was married to Nancy Bassett in 1944 (deceased) with whom he was the father of four children: Thomas A., David C., and Robert H. Bauckham, and Laurie J. Callander, all of whom survive; a grandfather to six grandchildren, Ian David Bauckham, Jessica (Bauckham) Wilmarth, Rachael Bauckham, Kate (Callander) Nelson, Neil Callander, and Susan Callander; and seven great grandchildren, all of whom he was extremely proud.
He was later married to Dorothy Bowers (deceased), Margaret Hoogendorn (deceased), and in 1993 to Rosalie Kirklin Bauckham, who very fortunately and importantly survives.
John was a member and past president of the Kalamazoo County Lawyer's Bar Association, a former Hearing Chairman of the State Attorney Discipline Board, a life member of Post 50 of the Kalamazoo Elks, past President and member of the Kalamazoo Knights of the Round Table International Service Club, and a member of the Sunset Shore Property Owners Association at South Haven. He was a former Vice President of the Kalamazoo Junior Chamber of Commerce, and previously on the Board of Trustees of the St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Kalamazoo. He was a life member of the National Registry of Who's Who published in 1999 and a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation since 1996 where he was recognized by colleagues "for outstanding legal ability". He was listed in the Martindale Hubbell National Legal Directory in its highest "A" rated category established by recorded opinions of his colleagues.
John's main interests, outside of the practice of municipal law, were his wife during the last 20 plus years, his house in South Haven bordering Lake Michigan, golf, reading, traveling, and his four children and six grandchildren. His interest in Township government and its preservation as the most publically reachable and constituent responsible form of government never wavered and remained of primary importance to him throughout his legal career. His counseling and legal assistance will be sorely missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
Friends may visit with John's family from 10am-12pm on Saturday, Sept. 19, at Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Westside Chapel, 3926 S. 9th Street, with a service to celebrate John's life beginning at 12:00 PM. Rev. Timothy W. Seeber will officiate. Memorial contributions may be directed to Kalamazoo Gospel Mission or Ministry with Community.
**CHARITIES**
Kalamazoo Gospel Mission
526 N. Burdick Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
269-345-2974
http://www.kzoogospel.org /
Ministry with Community
440 N Church St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
(269) 343-6073
www.ministrywithcommunity.org /
Visitation
SEP 19. 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Langeland Family Funeral Homes - Westside Chapel3926 S. 9th St.
Kalamazoo, MI, US, 49009
Service
SEP 19. 12:00 PM
Langeland Family Funeral Homes - Westside Chapel3926 S. 9th St.
Kalamazoo, MI, US, 49009
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