Violet Jean Reno

Vi was born in Seattle, Washington to Floyd and Aileen Reno. She was extremely proud of her Italian and Finnish heritage. Her family’s Alaskan heritage was another source of pride. Her father’s family arrived in Girdwood, Alaska from Italy in 1906, and remained there until the late 1920’s, when they moved to Anchorage and ran a family Italian grocery store. Vi’s mother was a Finnish citizen, so as a second generation daughter, Vi grew up speaking Finnish as her first language. Through the years, she enjoyed any opportunity to converse in Finnish.

Exceeding her parents’ expectations, Vi graduated from Ingraham High School early and became the first in her family to attend college. Her intelligence and ambition motivated her. She earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude with a dual major of Sociology-Anthropology and Journalism from Western Washington University and then her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Puget Sound School of Law.

Vi began her professional career as in-house counsel at Safeco Insurance. A few years later she joined the law firm Detels, Madden, Cockett and McGee (formerly Detels, Draper and Marinkovich) as an associate lawyer. It didn’t take long for Vi to earn an invitation to become an equity partner of that firm. Soon after, she would co-found the Law Firm of McGee & Reno, specializing in maritime law litigation. She thrived practicing in an area of law that included very few women and worked hard to earn her distinguished reputation in that field. Eventually Vi would start her own solo practice, Law Offices of Vi Jean Reno. She handled a broad range of complex commercial admiralty matters for her clients. While she represented clients in a wide range of corporate matters, her fondest memories involved arguing cases in court and climbing aboard commercial fishing vessels. She truly cared about all of her long time clients. They became more than just clients to her. For over 45 years, Vi loved the practice of law and her career as an attorney.

Through the years, Vi was also involved in many legal associations, speaking at various seminars, and writing maritime articles for publication. She was a member of the Seattle Urban League for nearly a decade. She served as President and Board Member of her condo association for many years. More recently she was actively involved with the Norwegian Commercial Club, and served on the Board of Trustees at the Nordic Heritage Museum and Swedish Cultural Center.

Vi had a genuine appreciation for the arts: she was always reading a book or two, she attended countless theater and opera productions, and she visited many museums around the world. She loved to travel and she would often visit Paris where she would sip coffee at a favorite café and people watch. She also enjoyed visiting London to catch a Shakespeare play in the Globe Theatre. She loved fashion and was always dressed impeccably. And although she kept herself quite busy during the work week, she truly cherished her lazy Sundays at home in her favorite chair, reading the New York Times.

At Vi’s request, there will not be a service. She will be missed.