Sept. 2024 > In Remembrance

This In Remembrance section lists WSBA members by Bar number and date of death. The list is not complete and contains only those notices of which the WSBA has learned through correspondence from members. When available, obituaries are linked below.

Please email notices and requests to link obituaries to wabarnews@wsba.org.

Kenneth O. Eikenberry

#4348, 12/22/2023

Kenneth Eikenberry was born June 29, 1932, in Wenatchee. He earned his B.A. in political science from Washington State University in 1954 and his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 1959. After law school, Eikenberry worked as an FBI agent and then as a deputy prosecutor for King County. From 1971 to 1976, Eikenberry served as a member of the state House of Representatives (36th District). He was a member of the Republican National Committee twice, as chairman of the Washington Republican Party from 1977 to 1980 and again from 1993 to 1997. In 1981, he succeeded Slade Gorton as Washington’s 15th attorney general, a position he held until 1992. During his tenure as attorney general, Eikenberry worked to bring more focus and resources to the state’s criminal law enforcement efforts, which helped support the creation of the Office of Attorney General’s first formally designated Criminal Prosecution Unit. In 1982, he was appointed to the nine-member President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. He is credited with securing Washington’s Victim Bill of Rights and in working with media representatives, to humanize treatment of crime victims in the press. In 1992, he ran for governor but lost narrowly to Democrat Mike Lowry. Eikenberry was a sole practitioner for much of the rest of his career. In retirement, he lived in Olympia and did consulting work. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Beverly Eikenberry.

George R. Nethercutt Jr. 

#3324, 6/14/2024

George Nethercutt Jr. was born in Spokane on Oct. 7, 1944, to parents George and Nancy (Sampson) Nethercutt. Nethercutt earned his B.A. in English from Washington State University in 1967 and his J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1971. He started his legal career clerking for U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Plummer in Alaska, then serving as chief of staff for Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Nethercutt then moved back to Washington to practice law, focusing on adoptions. There he helped facilitate over 2,000 adoptions. He also served as the Spokane County Republican chairman and led the Spokane Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which helped expand access to treatment and awareness of the disease. In 1994, Nethercutt ran for Washington’s 5th Congressional District seat and won, becoming only the second person in U.S. history to defeat a sitting speaker (Thomas S. Foley) of the U.S. House of Representatives. He held the seat from 1995 to 2005, despite campaigning on a three-term limit for members of Congress, and during that time served on the Appropriations Committee and co-founded the Congressional Diabetes Caucus. Nethercutt is described as a person of faith, family, community, and service. He is survived by his wife, Mary Beth Nethercutt; two children, Meredith Nethercutt Krisher and Elliott Johnston Nethercutt; one sister, Nancy Nethercutt Gustafson; one brother, John Irving Nethercutt; and one granddaughter.