Walter Vincent McLaughlin, Jr. died quietly at home on August 25, 2023. Walter was born July 14, 1938, and grew up in Philadelphia, PA where his father was an FBI agent.
He prepared at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, PA prior to earning his A.B. cum laude in History and Literature from Harvard College where he was a member of Lowell House and the Harvard Class of 1960.
At graduation, Walter was offered a place at Harvard Law School but requested his enrollment be deferred so he could serve in the Army. His active duty was mainly at Fort Bliss, TX. Never one to neglect an educational opportunity, while serving he completed an M.A. degree in History at the University of Texas at El Paso. After active service, Walt served an additional four years in the Army reserves. Walter returned to Harvard after active service and earned his L.L.B. degree in 1965 (which became, by a bit of Harvard legerdemain, a JD in 1969.
Walter married Martha Sauntry in 1965 and together they raised three children in the Midwest -- Martha Ann, Susan, and Walter III.
As an attorney, Walter worked at a number of large corporations, including Playboy, Miles Laboratory, and National Electric Coil, serving in various roles as general counsel, labor negotiator, and HR director. Once his children were grown, he ventured out on his own in solo practice, with a special interest in wrongful terminations. Walter was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Arizona, and before the United States Supreme Court.
Walter maintained an intellectual curiosity, a love of learning and a passion for books throughout his life. He was active in the Chicago chapter of The Great Books Foundation, serving for a time as its Secretary, and appearing in Great Books discussions on local TV. Walter was elected to he Board of Directors at both the DuPage (IL) Library System (in Geneva, IL) and the Geneva (IL) Public Library District. He served several times as President of the latter Board and lobbied for the libraries in Washington DC.
Walter relocated to the Pacific Northwest in 2006, where he married his second wife, Polagaya Fiine. He continued to be active in the Great Books, attending faithfully, encouraging others to join, and serving occasionally as group leader. He remained active in the community, serving for several years on the Monroe (WA) School District’s Community Budget Committee.
Walter was active in the war gaming community and owned an extensive collection of war games and military miniatures. Not content with just playing the games, he kept an extensive library on historical battles, to better inform him how real battles occurred. An omnivorous reader, he made his way through authors that interested him, from the magic realism of Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, to the examination of morals and Christianity in Japan of Endō Shūsaku, and through the eighteenth-century classics of Jane Austin and Walter Scott.(He skipped Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.)
Although health issues were slowing him down, Walter was still working to finish his PhD thesis about how the work of the National Vigilance Association (NVA) helped advance women’s rights in England at the end of the nineteenth century. (He thought much of the criticism of the NVA was unjustified.) Though his notes are finished, the thesis remains unwritten and unfinished, as, in the end, all our lives must have unfinished tasks.
Walter greatly cherished his role as a grandfather to Nathan and Mallory. He would visit them in Pasadena, CA whenever he had the chance. He loved sharing stories about the military and growing up in Philadelphia. He will be missed by all his family and friends, and especially by his wife, daughter, grandchildren and stepchildren, and by his brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
He is survived by his wife Polagaya McLaughlin, sister Deborah McLaughlin Towey, children: Martha Ann McLaughlin, Susan McLaughlin Harden, and Walter V. McLaughlin III, stepchildren Sarah Allsop-Fiine and David Fiine and grandchildren Nathan Harden and Mallory Harden.
A celebration of life for Walter was held September 24, 2023 at the Monroe (WA) Public Library.
Adapted from the obituary on the Dignity Memorial website.
