Erma Hallett Jaeckle leaves $1 million bequest

Erma Hallett Jaeckle.

In death as in life, Erma Hallett Jaeckle made a difference. She was Erma Hallett back in 1936 when she graduated from what was then the Buffalo Law School. One of four women in her graduating class, she worked for a negligence attorney, then practiced patent law at Carborundum Co. before joining the Coast Guard during World War II in the legal department of the Merchant Marine Division. After the war, she began working in the real property department of Moot & Sprague, in Buffalo.

In 1950 her life took a difficult turn when her husband, a physician, died. She moved with her two young sons to St. Petersburg, Fla., to be near family, and there she practiced for a quarter century as a trial lawyer specializing in matrimonial and child custody cases. She eventually formed Hallett, Ford & Thurman, the first law firm in that area all of whose partners were women.

During a visit to Buffalo late in her career, she renewed her acquaintance with Edwin F. Jaeckle, and that renewal of an old friendship led to their marriage in 1971. Mrs. Jaeckle returned to Buffalo and retired from the practice of law. The couple was always deeply involved with the Law School, including generous giving – such as the gift that led to the development of what is now the Jaeckle Center for Law, Democracy and Governance. Mr. Jaeckle died in 1992, and Mrs. Jaeckle passed away only recently, just short of her 102nd birthday.

Always a canny lawyer with an eye for making the best use of her resources, Mrs. Jaeckle included two provisions in her will that benefit her law school alma mater. The first was an outright bequest on a percentage basis that totals just more than $1 million. The second was to establish charitable remainder trusts for the benefit of her sons, with the balance in the future to benefit the Law School as well; that future gift may well total an additional $1.25 million.

SUNY Distinguished Professor James A. Gardner, a scholar of governmental law, ran the Jaeckle Center for many years. Now, as the Law School’s interim dean, he faces the happy task of allocating Mrs. Jaeckle’s bequest. “We’re so grateful for the generosity of Edwin and Erma Jaeckle and their long, steadfast support of the Law School. This generosity presents so many opportunities,” Gardner says.

Though the details are not in final form, Gardner envisions using the gift in three major ways:

  • To support faculty research and scholarship.
  • To provide scholarship aid for our students, recognizing that not only does that aid ease the financial burden on current students, but that it also helps attract academically talented students to the Law School.
  • To further strengthen the school’s academic success programs. These widely used programs provide support and assistance to students as they navigate their law school years, and help develop and hone the skills – legal analysis, problem solving, vigorous and clear writing – so necessary to passing the bar exam and succeeding in legal practice.

When Erma Hallett Jaeckle won the Law School’s highest honor – the Edwin F. Jaeckle Award – in 1999, she accepted with these words: “I am amazed at the changes in the legal world and the manner in which the Law School is meeting these changes.”

In the last legal document of her life, she made sure that that work would flourish.