By Ana Beatriz Cholo, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Hal Dardick contributed to this report
March 3, 2005
Michael Francis Lefkow's passion for social justice prompted his participation in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and later resulted in his arguing two cases for the poor before the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It was just in his heart that all people are created equal and were entitled to civil rights," said his wife, U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow.
As part of his civil rights activism, Mr. Lefkow traveled to Selma, Ala., and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Then when King was assassinated in 1968, Mr. Lefkow and his future wife attended King's funeral.
In 1971 and again in 1976, Mr. Lefkow argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Both cases were class-action cases filed on the behalf of people receiving public aid benefits or welfare.
Mr. Lefkow, 64, and his mother-in-law, Donna Grace Humphrey, 89, were found slain Monday in his Edgewater home. Chicago police and federal agents are exploring possible motives, including whether a connection exists between the slayings and any cases the judge was involved in.
He came from a family of attorneys, and while a student at the Northwestern University law school, he often used the library at Wheaton College, near his home. One day in 1965 he was at the library when Joan Humphrey, a senior at Wheaton, stopped working on her research paper and started to talk to him.
She had noticed him before. "He had a swarthy, European look about him," she said.
While they talked, Mr. Lefkow saw that she had a stack of books on Indonesia, the same books he was looking for. He told her he had been seeking those books, but they were all checked out.
Then he asked if she would join him for a beer. She hedged and suggested a Coke. "So there you go. The rest is history," said his wife. The couple married in 1975 in Colorado. In 1976, after spending about 12 years working at the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago and with his wife pregnant with their first daughter, the newlyweds moved from Chicago to Madrid.
Described as a "Spanophile" by his wife, Mr. Lefkow immersed himself in Spanish culture and took flamenco guitar and dancing lessons. A framed picture of Don Quixote stands in his office at the Monadnock Building with the quote: "The man who fights for his ideals is the man who is alive.".
After nine months in Spain, the family returned to Illinois and Mr. Lefkow became director of the newly formed DuPage County Legal Assistance Foundation.
In 1979, the family moved to Coral Gables, Fla. where he took a job as an attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Two years later, the family returned to Illinois when Mr. Lefkow became a labor attorney with the U.S. Postal Service. In 1984, he opened his own law practice.
"I think he really enjoyed using his skills to help people," his wife said. "He was such a creative and loyal advocate for his clients, no matter how imperfect their situation was."
While Mr. Lefkow worked hard, their children always came first. He often drove their four daughters to ballet lessons, choir practice and birthday parties.
A few years ago, he began wearing hats. "He would never go anywhere without a hat," his wife said. Mr. Lefkow was a member of the Chicago Bar Association and was deeply involved in the Episcopal Church and was secretary of the Standing Committee, an advisory council to the Episcopal bishop.
Survivors include a daughter from a previous relationship; four other daughters; two sisters; two brothers; and three grandchildren.
Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston, followed by an 11 a.m. funeral service.