Armistead Williams Gilliam, Jr.

Armistead Williams Gilliam, Jr., known to all as Bill, passed away peacefully September 22, 2023 at his home in Sedona, AZ, at the age of 93.

He will be sorely missed by his wife, Kathleen, his children, Ryan, Tom, Billy, Elizabeth, and Katherine, his step daughter Lisa, his eight grandchildren, and all the members of his extended family.

Born 1930 in Washington D.C., Bill grew up an only child in rural Virginia. He was an intelligent, adventurous boy with a love for literature and theater. He attended college at the University of Virginia and earned a law degree at George Washington University.

Bill was a formidable trial attorney, first in Washington D.C. and later in Dayton, Ohio, with a career focused on complex litigation. He served as lead counsel for cases ranging from class actions to antitrust to environmental law. Among his accomplishments were presenting an argument to the Supreme Court on behalf of voting rights for Black citizens in Ohio, teaching Complex Litigation and Negotiations at the University of Dayton Law School, co founding the firm Faruki Gilliam and Ireland, and leading and winning a nationally publicized case to stop Occidental Petroleum and its owner Armand Hammer from a hostile takeover of Mead Paper. Bill served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Wright State University, Chair of the Federal Bar Examination Committee in Ohio, and as counsel to the Ohio Democratic Party. In his 80’s, Bill studied for and passed the bar examination to practice law in the state of Arizona.

Bill had a lifelong love of golf, made stronger in his youth when as a young Marine, he contracted polio and was ordered by doctors to play golf for his recovery. He competed in amateur golf tournaments in the US and Scotland. He enjoyed traveling, being outdoors, and was very pleased to have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. He had a lifelong fondness for the island of Maui, convertible cars, tennis, cooking, and winning arguments. Bill's wit, insight, and sly humor, legendary among his friends and family, were present until his final days, as was his deep pleasure in being surrounded by his family and his profound love for his wife and partner Kath.

In Lieu of Flowers memorial donations may be made to Sedona Humane Society, https://humanesocietyofsedona.org/

Memorial Mass will be held at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 180 St. John  Vianney Lane, Sedona, AZ 86336 on Friday,

 October 6th at 10:00 AM. Reception to follow in Parish Hall.