John William Strong

John W. Strong was born in Iowa City, Iowa, the son of Frank R. Strong and Gertrude W. Strong. The family soon moved to Columbus, Ohio, where John’s father was first a professor, and later dean, of the Ohio State University College of Law. John attended the Columbus Boychoir School (later the American Boychoir) and then University High School, from which he graduated in 1953. He then entered Yale College where he was a member of Berkeley College, majored in English Literature, became a Ranking Scholar, and graduated in 1957. He subsequently entered the U.S. Army, with which he served in Germany until 1959.

After separation from the military, he entered law school at the University of Illinois, where he ultimately served as Editor in Chief of the Illinois Law Forum. John was elected to the Order of the Coif, and graduated with honor in 1962. Immediately on graduation, he married the former Margaret Waite Cleary (Marty). They moved to Decatur, Illinois, where he practiced briefly with a small general practice firm.

In 1964, he began his career in legal education by joining the faculty of Kansas University, subsequently serving on the law faculties of Duke University, the University of Oregon, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Arizona. At Oregon he also served as Associate Dean, and at Nebraska he served as Dean from 1977-82 and as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs from 1982-84. In his final appointment at Arizona, he held the Rosenstiel Distinguished Professorship in Law. At around that time, the law students at Arizona nicknamed him the “Teddy Bear from Hell” due to his amiable manner but less amiable grading practices.

He also served at various times as Visiting Professor at Michigan, North Carolina, Utah, and Lewis and Clark, and as a lecturer at the National Judges College in Reno, Nevada. During his career, he was the co-author of a casebook on the law of Evidence, a contributing author and general editor of McCormick on Evidence, and the author of a number of periodical articles on Evidence and Real Property. He also served as National Secretary-Treasurer of the Order of the Coif, a position earlier held by his father.

Following his retirement, he and Marty relocated to a retirement community in Medford, Oregon. His volunteer activities in retirement included low-income income tax assistance with the VITA and later AARP programs, and mediation for Oregon courts in Jackson and Deschutes counties.

Raised by parents who were from Kansas and growing up in Ohio, John was a Midwesterner at heart, even when living elsewhere. Consistent with those origins, he was kind, understated, and had a dry wit.

He and Marty loved the outdoors, which was the main reason they returned to Oregon in retirement. They were particularly fond of Black Butte Ranch, Oregon, where they owned a series of cabins beginning in 1976 and where they sometimes spent as much as half of the year. They enjoyed hiking and playing pickleball at Black Butte, and wanted everyone to know that they had been playing pickleball for years before the rest of the country caught on. They also loved dogs; John owned a dog up until the last couple years of his life.

John was a great fan of sports. He would watch baseball at any time, but later in life particularly enjoyed watching the Mariners. He was also a fan of college football, first as a Buckeye, then a Duck, then a Husker, and finally as a Wildcat.

He was predeceased in 2015 by Marty, his wife of 53 years, and by his sister Mary Elizabeth Brennan. John is survived by his partner, Janet Rowe, and his two sons and their wives, Frank Strong (Genie) of McLean, Virginia, and Dr. Benjamin Strong (Christina) of Tucson, Arizona, and by five grandchildren, Matthew Strong (McLean, Virginia), Katherine Strong (Cambridge, Massachusetts), William Strong (New Haven, Connecticut), Cameron Strong (Phoenix, Arizona), and Kenneth Strong (Tempe, Arizona), of all of whom he was profoundly proud.

At his request, there will be no funeral or memorial service. Contributions in his memory can be made to Southern Oregon Humane Society, 2910 Table Rock Road, Medford, Oregon 97501