Friday, April 23, 2004
Page 3
Memorial Celebration Slated For Founding Member of Cowboy Lawyers Group
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A memorial celebration will be held tomorrow for Walter M. Leighton, an original member of the Cowboy Lawyers Association.
Leighton died Saturday at his Ojai home at age 62 after a battle with cancer.
At the time of his death he was in practice with the Encino probate firm of Oldman, Cooley, Leighton & Sallus. Mary Bennett of Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Bennett in Los Angeles, also an original member of the Cowboy Lawyers group, said Leighton continued to be active in the practice of law up until a few weeks before his death.
Born in Houston and known as “Tex” to his Cowboy Lawyer companions, Leighton earned his undergraduate degree from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. and his law degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. He came to California in 1965, settling first in Cayucos in San Luis Obispo County, where he met his wife, and later moving to Ojai.
An avid horseman, he was among the founding members of the Cowboy Lawyers Association in 1989. He served as the group’s Ride Committee Chairman in 1996 and its president in 1997.
The memorial celebration will be held at the Leighton home at 12124 Chumash Road in Ojai at 2 p.m.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company