Hon. Walter J. Relihan

Hon. Walter J. Relihan, Jr., a retired Justice of the New York Supreme Court, died on January 11, 2017. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 61 years, Joan Marie Relihan of Binghamton, and by his sister Mary Virginia Romine, and by two nieces, Sarah Dana Grippen and Catherine Couse. He was survived by his children: Elizabeth Allen (E. Thomas) Porter, Walter J. Relihan, III (Susan Elizabeth), and Susan Mary (Jack) Reynolds; six grandchildren: Abigail Porter (Patrick) Coyle, William Thomas Porter, Major E. Dary Porter (Alexandra), David Allen Relihan, William Augustin Relihan, and Andrew Joseph Relihan; a niece Laura (Michael) Crooks and grand niece Kara Grippen Grommet (Philip) and three great-grandchildren: Jack Porter Coyle, Patrick Bogardus Coyle and Benjamin George Porter.

He was a graduate of Cornell (B.A. 1952), then served as a naval officer (1952-1956) and thereafter, graduated from Cornell Law School (J.D. 1959). He began the practice of law in Binghamton with the law firm of Night and Keller (later, Night, Keller, Relihan and O'Connor). He was a member of the Binghamton Commission on Architecture and Urban Design, and participated in the successful drive to preserve the Beaux Arts City Hall.

In 1967, he was appointed Chief Counsel, New York State Office of General Services, where he drafted legislation authorizing the construction of the Government Center at Binghamton, combining state, county, and city facilities. He was an advisor in the construction and financing of the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany. In 1971, he was appointed University Counsel and Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, State University of New York, advising the Chancellor, Board of Trustees and presidents of the 59 state-operated colleges and university centers of the SUNY system. He also served as Counsel to the SUNY Research Foundation.

In 1979, he was elected University Counsel by the Cornell University Board of Trustees and in 1980, was also elected Secretary of the Corporation. He was director of the Cornell Research Foundation and was a member of the Cornell University Council and the Advisory Council of the Cornell Plantations. He was a long-time member of the Cornell Law School Advisory Council and established an endowment for the school and its students.

In 1991, he was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court and served in that capacity, sitting in various counties in upstate New York and in New York City until 2007. He was a lecturer on the law of evidence at state judicial conferences and at Bar Association continuing legal education programs. He was a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation and, after retirement, served as a member of the State Judicial Qualification Commission in and for the Sixth Judicial District. In 2007, he was an advisor to President Emeritus Frank T. Rhodes in the creation of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.

Interment in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery will be private. Plans for a memorial service to be held in the spring will be announced by the Bangs Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be directed to either the Justice Walter Relihan, Jr. Scholarship, Cornell University Law School, c/o Peter Cronin, 260 Myron Taylor Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, or Alzheimer's Association of Central New York, 441 W. Kirkpatrick St., Syracuse, NY 13204 or the Family & Children's Services of Ithaca, 127 W. State St., Ithaca, NY 14850.