Lasting Memories

Carl L. McConnell
June 18, 1942-March 17, 2013
Palo Alto, California

Carl L. McConnell passed away on March 17, 2013, in Redwood City, California. He is survived by his wife Susan, his son Matthew (Stacy), his daughter Jessica Grundelman (Eric), his five grandchildren, Ryan, Madelyn and Dylan McConnell, and Alison and Andrew Grundelman, and one brother.

Carl was born in Elmira, New York on June 18, 1942. In 1963, Carl graduated Cum Laude from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science in Geology, and was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Carl married the love of his life, Susan, in 1965. That same year, he earned a master?s degree in Geology from Yale University. He went on to get his law degree in 1968 from Yale School of Law. After receiving a prestigious Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship, Carl and Susan packed their bags and headed to California where Carl began his law career at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. He served as Director of Litigation and its Managing Attorney in Redwood City.

Carl?s years at Legal Aid are legendary. Carl was respected by colleagues and members of the community for his never-ending commitment to high-quality civil legal services to the clients. For his commitment to justice for low-income children, families and seniors in San Mateo County, demonstrated by decades of hard work both as a public interest lawyer and as a private attorney, San Mateo Legal Aid awarded Carl with the Guardian of Justice Award.

In 1980, Carl and two other Legal Aid attorneys, David Packard and Byron Mellberg, formed the Palo Alto law firm of Packard, Mellberg and McConnell where they practiced together for 16 years. In 1996, Carl joined the firm of Hoge, Fenton, Jones and Appel, Inc.in San Jose where he handled complex litigation. In many of the 14 years with the firm, the associates of Hoge Fenton elected Carl as their Mentor of the year. In fact, he won the award so many times that, in 2008, the firm named its Mentor of the Year award after Carl.

Despite being in demand as a private lawyer, Carl served on the Board of Directors of the San Mateo County Bar Association and as President of the Palo Alto Bar Association. After 45 years of practice, Carl retired in 2010.

Carl will long be remembered as a brilliant and witty man, a trusted colleague, mentor and friend who made a difference in the lives of many and in the communities in which he lived and worked. Above all, he was a great husband, dad and grandfather?a truly special person.