Daddy

Think for a moment about your friends from grade school. The “gang” who played kick ball, stick ball, and football. You went to high school together, then college. You all get married, have children, and grow old.

My father’s obituary was written by Victor Volland of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Victor, Hantz and Darwin. Three boys playing on the lots of the near North Side. Friends literally to the grave.

February 8, 2006
DARWIN PORTMAN St. Louis Post-Dispatch February 8, 2001

Graveside services for Darwin Portman, an immigration law attorney, will be at 10 a.m. today at Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery at Ladue and Price roads in Ladue.

Mr. Portman died Tuesday (Feb. 6, 2001) after suffering a heart attack at a restaurant near his office in Clayton. He was 64 and lived in University City.

Mr. Portman, the son of a Russian immigrant, fought hard and often without pay for immigrants and others caught up in the complexities of U.S. immigration laws.

Mr. Portman, a St. Louis native, earned his law degree from Washington University.

He was a former chairman of the immigration law committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.

He was a founder of St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts, which provided free legal and accounting assistance for artists and arts organizations.

Mr. Portman was a director of the St. Louis branch of the American Jewish Congress and a national board member of American Youth Hostels.

He was a founding member of Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis and a member of the League of Women Voters.

Mr. Portman is survived by his wife, Carol; two sons, Alan Portman of University City and Bob Portman of Chesterfield; a brother, Eugene Portman of Clayton; a sister, Ruth Steele of Creve Coeur; and a grandson.

Note: this article appeared in the THREE STAR Edition, page B4.Edition: THREE STAR

Copyright, 2001, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Record Number: 0102080290