The son of a Lutheran minister who often brought church members home for an evening meal and on New Year’s Eve extended that invitation to those without family or homes, William R. Theiss learned at a young age the pleasure of a good conversation and the importance of benevolence.
Mr. Theiss, 70, a retired partner in the Chicago law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a founding member of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and an adjunct professor of law at DePaul University, died of complications from esophageal cancer, Sunday, March 7, in his Deerfield home.
Those early childhood evenings “really influenced and formed my dad’s desire to help others,” said his son, Paul. “He always enjoyed intellectual debates and enjoyed studying the law for its intellectual qualities. I think the law appealed to his sense of both having intellectual challenges and helping others.”
His family moved from California to Chicago’s North Side when he was a young boy. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1955 and law degree in 1957, both from Valparaiso University in Indiana, where he met his wife, Elaine, a fellow choir member. After receiving a master’s in law from Yale University in 1959, he joined Kirkland & Ellis and stayed there until retirement in 1995.
“Bill was a really great real-estate attorney who had unique knowledge in the areas of coal and mineral transactions,” said Gregory Spitzer, a partner in the firm. “He was truly an expert in mineral rights. He also was a great teacher who devoted a lot of time to his students at DePaul and other lawyers here at the firm; a friendly guy who always had time for questions and was really involved in wanting to pass on his knowledge to young people.”
In the 1970s Mr. Theiss was involved in the formative years of the Legal Assistance Foundation, which provides free legal aid in civil cases to the poor. He was its president from 1978 to 1980.
“He was an early shining example of a lawyer at one of the best firms in the city representing corporate clients who balanced that part of his life with giving of his energy and commitment to the legal representation of those at the bottom of the economic ladder,” said Sheldon Roodman, the foundation’s executive director for 30 years. “He had a clear recognition of the importance of equal justice: that not just the rich but the poor should have legal representation.”
Lawyers and the people eligible for the foundation’s services sit on the foundation’s board.
“Bill was a quiet, reserved and thoughtful lawyer who got things done in a way that brought people together,” Roodman said. “He had the respect of all members of the board.”
Mr. Theiss was an avid fisherman who took his three sons on fishing trips to such places as Alaska and Canada when each turned 16, but his favorite fishing companions became his grandchildren.
Along with his wife and son, survivors include his other sons, Steve and John; his sister, Georgine Steude; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Grace Lutheran Church, 2245 Walters Ave., Northbrook.