Each of us spends so little time on this planet. Yet it is sad when a person lives 70 years and Freedom never knew that he or she was here. I speak for no one else, but when my work is done and my time is run, my fervent, fevered hope is that my children will say of me – “He helped preserve for us the blessing of our liberty.”
--Howard T. Markey --
Appointed by Chief Justice Warren Burger to serve on the Ad Hoc Committee that launched the American Inns of Court as a nationwide movement, Judge Howard T. Markey died on Wednesday, May 3 in Chicago at the age of 86, following a prolonged illness. He was preceded in death by his wife, Beth and survived by sons Christopher and Jeffrey, a daughter Jennifer; a sister, Catherine; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Raised in Maywood, Illinois, where his father was a telegrapher for the Illinois Central Railroad, he joined the Army Air Forces during World War II, serving as a flight instructor and engineering officer. Markey was one of the first test pilots for aircraft prototypes using then-unproven jet-turbine technology. He also flew combat missions during the Korean conflict, becoming a Brigadier General at age 38.
After the war, using the GI Bill, he entered a special 3 1/2-year program at Loyola University, in which students completed both undergraduate and law schools. He graduated with a juris doctorate in 1949. The next year he received a master's degree in patent law from John Marshall Law School. As a young attorney, Howard Markey began working for Parker and Carter, where he specialized in patent and intellectual property law and soon distinguished himself as a uniquely skillful and capable lawyer.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon named Mr. Markey to be chief judge of the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, a post he held for 10 years. While there, he consolidated that court and the appellate division of the U.S. Court of Claims, creating the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1982. Judge Markey then took the reins of the new court until 1990. His own considerable caseload didn't keep him from broadening his legal experience. He traveled the U.S. and was the first sitting judge to hear cases in all 12 circuits.
Judge Markey retired in 1991 and served for three years as dean of John Marshall Law School. In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed legislation renaming the National Courts Building in Washington the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building. Markey has been described as "A patriot, soldier, lawyer and judge, whose public service and contributions to America's defense and the administration of justice set him apart and rightly distinguish him as a man who has helped to make America great." (The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: A History - 1982-1990, dedication). The redesignation celebration in October 1998, focused on his exceptional career.
From the early days of the Inn movement, Judge Markey and his long-time friend and associate, Professor Sherman Cohn, the first chairman of the American Inns of Court, spearheaded the ‘idea whose time has come’, traveling the country, speaking, writing and developing the American Inns of Court. In 1986, Professor Cohn passed the gavel to Judge Markey, describing him as having “the vision that will carry us even further toward the Inn’ goals.”
Judge Markey was the 1993 recipient of the A. Sherman Christensen Award for his “distinguished, exceptional and significant leadership to the American Inns of Court movement.” The Howard T. Markey Endowment Fund is the core endowment fund of the American Inns of Court.