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Kortenhof, Joseph Michael

Joseph Michael Kortenhof, 84, of St. Louis, Missouri died peacefully at home of lung cancer on November 29, 2011. Joe was born August 18, 1927 in Kimberly, Wisconsin, son of the late Joseph Arthur Kortenhof and Marie Probst Kortenhof. He attended Holy Name of Jesus Parish School and graduated from Kimberly High School in 1945. He served in the US Army Air Force, and afterward earned degrees from Lawrence College and the University of Michigan Law School. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the Michigan Law Review. He married Althea Hunting in 1952 and began work as a trial lawyer in St. Louis in 1953. He established his first firm, Murphy & Kortenhof, in 1960, which later became Kortenhof & Ely. In recent years he was a partner at the Kortenhof McGlynn law firm. He specialized in insurance and products liability defense and malpractice defense for doctors, hospitals and lawyers. He served as an adjunct professor teaching trial practice at Washington University School of Law. Joe received the Missouri Bar Foundation’s Lon O. Hocker Trial Lawyer Award, the Lawyers Association of St. Louis Award of Honor, and the Ben Ely, Jr. Outstanding Missouri Civil Defense Lawyer Award. He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, and an Advocate in the American Board of Advocates. He was listed in “The Best Lawyers in America”, “Who’s Who in American Law” and “Who’s Who in America.” He also served as trustee of Lawrence University and received the Jupp Award for outstanding service to Lawrence. He was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Waupaca. Joe courted Althea on the Chain O’ Lakes in Wau-paca, vacationed most years there and in 1993 started spending summers at their home on Rainbow Lake. Joe loved sailing, woodworking, and gardening. Joe is survived by his loving wife of 59 years Althea Hunting Kortenhof; sister Carole A. Kortenhof of Appleton; children Elizabeth “Betsy” (Steve) Kortenhof Kumbalek, Michael (Elizabeth) H. Kortenhof and Amy (Rob Metheny) Kortenhof Bonsall; grandchildren: Jessica C. Bonsall, Michael M. Kumbalek, Theodore H. Kortenhof, Katherine E. Kumbalek, Suzannah M. Kortenhof and Joseph W. Kortenhof. A memorial service will be held in Waupaca at a later date. Donations in memory of Joe may be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 415 S. Main St, Waupaca WI 54981 or Lawrence University, 711 E. Boldt Way SPC 1847, Appleton, WI 54911-5699.

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