Santa Clara University

Class Notes

In Memoriam

Andrew Gonzales B.A. ’87, J.D. ’92

Andrew Gonzales ’92, B.A.’ 87, a community leader and Bay Area attorney, died of pneumonia on Nov. 22, 2004. He was 39.

Gonzales was active in student groups while a law student at SCU, and continued that tradition after he became an attorney. He served on SCU’s Law Alumni Board of Directors. He also served two terms as president of the La Raza Lawyers Association of Santa Clara County, and was serving as president of the board of the Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County at the time of his death. He also served on the board and the executive committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, and on the board of Los Lupenos de San Jose, a Mexican dance group.

He was proud of a local scholarship program he founded for Latino law students, and served as chairman for five years.

“Andrew’s greatest goal was to increase access to the legal profession for people who didn’t have a lot of opportunities,” Christopher Arriola, president-elect of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, told the Recorder legal newspaper. “He took it on as a personal mission to increase the number of Latino law students, and therefore, lawyers.”

At the time of his death, Gonzales was practicing law in San Francisco. He had a corporate law practice and represented Wal-Mart in employment cases in Northern California.

He is survived by his partner, Antonio Domingo; his father, Robert; his stepmother, Sylvia; and his brothers: Danny, Jack, and Robert Jr.

The family asks that donations be sent to La Raza Lawyers Legal Aid Scholarship in Gonzales’ name to establish a new scholarship in his memory: P.O. Box 30, San Jose, CA 95130.

Jerry Allan Kasner

Jerry Allan Kasner

Jerry Allan Kasner, a professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law from 1961 to 1998, died on Oct. 21, 2004. He was 71.

Kasner earned his bachelor of science degree in 1955 and his juris doctor in 1957, both from Drake University. He was admitted to the Iowa State Bar in 1957 and the California State Bar in 1959. In 1996 he received Santa Clara University’s Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship.  He also received a distinguished alumnus award from Drake University Law School.

Kasner was an expert in tax law and spoke at professional seminars across the country. He was a CPA as well as a lawyer and a law professor, and he was the author of many articles and books on taxation, community property, and estate planning. In July 2004 he received the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award from the California CPA Education Foundation and he received the California CPA Education Foundation’s Award for Meritorious Service in 1985.

“Jerry’s collegiality exceeded his brilliance as a teacher and we will miss him greatly,” said SCU Professor of Law Paul Goda, S.J.

Kasner is survived by his wife, Sheril, daughter Alene and her family, and son Gregory and his family. He was preceded in death by his son, Eric.

James “Jim” L. Blawie

James “Jim” L. Blawie, a professor at the law school for many years, died at home on Nov. 29, 2004, at the age of 78.

Professor Blawie taught at the law school from the early 1960s until the early 1990s, teaching constitutional law, property, trusts and estates, admiralty, and other courses. “He was part of the history of the institution,” said former dean and retired law professor George Alexander. “He was a brilliant person.”

“Jim was one of a small band of dedicated law teachers who kept the School of Law going in the difficult period of the 1950s and 1960s,” remembers SCU Professor of Law Paul Goda, S.J. “Jim and his colleagues laid a foundation for the future growth of the law school.”

Professor Blawie, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, earned his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1955 and his Ph.D. from Boston University in 1959. He taught at several universities prior to coming to SCU, including Michigan State University, the University of Akron School of Law, Kent State University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He was a consultant on property and probate to the California Law Revision Commission from 1980 to 1985, and a complaints examiner for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity from 1982 to 1986.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, son Elias, daughters Cecilia and Christiana, and four grandchildren.