Richard Lee Kirkpatrick Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Richard Lee Kirkpatrick, 68, died on May 30, 2022, at his home in Orinda, California. Born May 26,1954, Richard was the son of Washington, D.C. lawyer Allen Kirkpatrick III and Susette Silvester Kirkpatrick. In 1975, he graduated summa cum laude with a BA in history and economics from Connecticut College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and named a Winthrop Scholar. He then continued his studies as a Gilman Fellow in the PhD program in history at the Johns Hopkins University, and went on to earn a JD from the University of Maryland in 1980. In his legal career, Richard specialized in intellectual property law as a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, first in Washington, D.C. and later in San Francisco until his retirement in 2019. He wrote several publications relating to his legal work, including the treatise Likelihood of Confusion in Trademark Law, along with a number of articles. Richard was a lifelong reader who maintained an immense home library of texts on subjects ranging from Biblical scholarship and American history to Renaissance thought and existentialist philosophy. He wrote several works of his own on these and other topics, including a book and articles on his family's history, a history of the Kennedy administration, studies on the Books of Samuel, a website with resources for readers of Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and articles on thinkers such as Machiavelli, Heidegger, and Ellul. For all his accomplishments as a lawyer and a scholar, Richard cared above all else about his family. He met Eliza Wilson of Cincinnati, Ohio during his time at Johns Hopkins, and they married on June 11,1977. Living at first in Maryland, and later in California, they raised four children together: Elizabeth, William, Thomas, and Andrew. His family will remember him as a kindhearted, devoted, and generous husband and father, who was always happy to support them in their passions, to assist them in their daily lives, to send them countless books and gifts relating to their interests, and to share pictures and recordings of the beautiful natural surroundings of their home. He loved spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, watching films, reading books, tending to his garden, visiting museums and historical landmarks, and taking trips with his family to destinations such as Lake Tahoe and the Oregon coast. He was a member of St. Paul’s K Street in Washington, DC and St. Peter’s Parish in Oakland. He is survived by Eliza, his wife of nearly 45 years, his daughter Elizabeth Albini (Jake), sons William, Thomas, and Andrew, and grandchildren, Joshua, Hudson, and Isabelle Albini. He also leaves sisters Susette Gustini (Ray) and Sally Maggard (Jim), sister-in-law Jill Kirkpatrick (Tony Connor) as well as mother-in-law Anne Wilson and Eliza’s siblings Clare Richart (Brett), Russell Wilson (Julie), and Andrew Wilson (Susan). Richard will also be missed by his numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Richard’s older brother Allen Kirkpatrick IV died in 1989. A Requiem Mass will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, June 11th, at St. Peter's Parish, at 6013 Lawton Avenue in Oakland, California. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be directed to the Association for Library Service to Children (http://www.ala.org/alsc/donate) or a charity of your choice.

Richard Lee Kirkpatrick

May 26, 1954 - May 30, 2022