MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JUDGE WILLIAM M. DRENNEN April 12, 2001 THE CLERK: All rise. The Court is now convened in special session, Chief Judge Wells presiding. CHIEF JUDGE WELLS: Good afternoon. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to welcome you to this Special Session of the United States Tax Court. Today, we are gathered to remember and honor our friend and colleague Judge William M. Drennen. We are here not only to honor him but also to comfort ourselves by noting the many ways in which he touched our lives. We are pleased to do so in the presence of his wife of 60 years, Margaret Morton Drennen, affectionately known to all as Maggie, and their four children: Margaret Penelope McLanahan, of Athens, Georgia, who is here with her husband, John, their two children, Rhodes and Temple, and their grandsons, William and John, Jr. Next is William M. Drennen, Jr., of Charleston, West Virginia, who is here with his son Samuel. Next is David Holmes Drennen, of Denver; and, the last of their children, but certainly not least, is Dale Louise Walter, of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, who is here with her husband, Hank, and their son, Ned. Maggie's niece, Holly Flint, is here as well. Also present today are our Special Trial Judges, Senior Judges, retired Judges, former Government officials, leaders of the bar, friends, and law clerks to Judge Drennen. Judge Drennen was born in Jenkins, Kentucky, on March 1, 1914. His career is quite impressive. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1936 and a law degree in 1938 from Ohio State University. During law school, he was employed in the office of the Ohio State Tax Commissioner. After graduation from law school, he clerked for the Hon. George W. McClintic, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia. Subsequently, he joined the law firm of Brown, Jackson & Knight (now Jackson & Kelly) in Charleston, West Virginia. From 1942 to 1945, Judge Drennen was a Naval Air Combat Intelligence Officer in the Pacific, earning the rank of lieutenant commander. |