In Memoriam

Sterling Fairhurst Howell Sterling Fairhurst Howell

Graveside services were held on April 6th 2009, for Sterling Fairhurst Howell, of Glen St. Mary, Florida, at Douglas Cemetery in Lake Butler, FL. He was born in East Meadow NY on April 2nd 1952, to Alfred and Emily Fairhurst of Levittown New York. Shortly thereafter, was adopted by Lincoln and Elizabeth Russell, and raised by Wayland and Theresa Howell after the Russell's deaths.

Thanks to the efforts of genealogical research, we were able to locate Sterling, and fly him and his wife Cathy Norman Addison, to NY for a family reunion in 1993. Though we only had him in our lives for 16 years, we were grateful to those who loved him and shared his life.

He was employed by Sears as a technician for almost 20 years, and was presently a member of "The Geek Squad" at Best Buy in Gainesville Florida. Born with a natural ability "to see the inside of a mechanism" there wasn't anything that he couldn't repair. Sterling enjoyed playing the guitar with a local band, and was a federally licensed ham operator who enjoyed connecting with others.

Nicholas J. Healy He is survived by a son Joseph May and his wife Lisa, of Alexandria Virginia, a fiancée Linda Reed of Lake Butler, his mother Theresa Howell of Indiana, Stepdaughters Sheryl Ann Biellings, Linda Arnold, Kim Williams, and Lisa Tollessrud, and a stepson Dewy Addison Jr., all from Florida. In addition, sisters June Fairhurst Fay of Garden City, Arlene Fairhurst Kister of North Babylon, Brothers Dale Howell of Miami, Florida, Allen Fairhurst of Davie Florida, and Lynn Fairhurst of North Merrick. He is also survived by step grandchildren, nieces, nephews and many wonderful friends that loved him, and were part of "his family."

Mr. Howell was a victim of a home invasion, and will be missed by all.

Nicholas J. Healy

Nicholas J. Healy, who was widely regarded as the finest maritime attorney in the United States, died in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland on Wednesday, May 20, of natural causes. He was 99. He and his late wife Margaret had been a resident of Garden City for 63 years.

Mr. Healy was a founding partner of the distinguished admiralty law firm Healy & Baillie LLP, established on St. Patrick's Day, 1948. The firm combined with Blank Rome in 2006. He was president of the Maritime Law Association from 1964 to 1966, honorary vice president and former vice-president of the Comité Maritime International (CMI), and served on the Board of Directors of Victory Carriers.

He was best known in the admiralty law field for his work representing the International Group of P&I Clubs on oil pollution matters. He was involved with many of the major shipping collision cases of the last half of the 20th Century - including the Amoco Cadiz and the Torrey Canyon cases. He was even involved with the RMS Titanic. Although the legendary ship sank in 1912, and suits against White Star Lines had long been settled, Mr. Healy was enlisted as an expert witness to give testimony in 2000 in a salvage case involving the ship's wreckage.

A prolific writer, he co-authored numerous books including Cases of the Law of Admiralty (1950), which is part of the American Casebook series published by West. He co-authored four editions of Admiralty: Cases and Materials, first published in 1965; the most recent edition, called Cases on Admiralty, was published three years ago by Thomson West. In 1998, The Law of Marine Collision, co-authored with Joseph C. Sweeney, was published by Cornell Maritime Press. He wrote numerous articles for the MLA Journal as well as the entry on "maritime law" for the Encyclopedia Britannica. He served on the board of the Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce and as its editor in chief from 1980 to 1988.

As adjunct professor at New York University, he taught the course in admiralty law for so many years - 39 - that a preponderance of American maritime lawyers were taught by him or taught by someone who was taught by him. In 1991, a biennial Nicholas J. Healy Lecture on Admiralty Law was established at New York University Law School; The ninth Healy Lecture was held this past May. He also gave courses and lectures in admiralty law at Tulane University, Temple University and Shanghai Maritime University.

Nicholas John Healy was born on January 4th, 1910. His namesake father, an amateur thespian, was president of the Catholic Repertory Theater and owned one of the great collections of dramatic literature. The collection - some 10,000 volumes — was sold to Clare Booth Luce and is now housed in the library at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. that bears her name. His great-grandfather emigrated to the United States from Ireland around 1830, and established a livery service company in New York City.

Mr. Healy graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan in 1927, from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1931, and from Harvard Law School in 1934. He sang with the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Glee Club for more than 50 years, was a lifelong member of the Society of the Sons of St. Patrick, and a member of India House and the Harvard Club

In 1942, Mr. Healy obtained a commission in the United States Naval reserve, then went on active duty until 1945, earning the rank of Lieutenant (Senior Grade). He spent the war years at the U.S. Department of Justice, working on collision cases for its admiralty section.

His wife, Margaret Ferry, predeceased him in 2003 after 66 years of marriage. He is survived by his six children, all graduates of Garden City High School: Nicholas Jr. of Naples, Florida Margaret Parker of Glen Rock, New Jersey, Rosemary Bell of Naples, Florida, Mary Louise White of Garden City, New York; Donall of New York City, Kathleen Hamon of Harrisville, New Hampshire, 21 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and his sister Marjorie Borden of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Contributions can be made to the Nicholas J. Healy Lecture on Admiralty Law, Development Office, New York University, 161 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10013.