Otwell C. Rankin was a prominent CPA in Covington, KY. He was also a prominent Democrat in Kenton County, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. He served on the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee. He had three sons, Tom (a physician), Dick (also a CPA) and Harry (an attorney).
Walter “Pete” Bubenzer worked for the U.S. Postal Service in the Transportation Planning Office of the Cincinnati Regional Office. A lifelong Democrat who after his retirement in 1971 took an active role in the party and also served on the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee. He had one daughter, Barbara (retail supervisor) and two sons, Bill and Mark (both attorneys).
In the early 1970s as my family became more active in Democratic campaigns my father and I became acquainted with Otwell Rankin. In the early 1980s, several years after graduating law school I met, Otwell’s son Harry. Our connection was primarily professional but Harry always seemed like the kind of person you would want as a friend.
In March of 1983 fate brought us together. On March 13 1983, Otwell S. Rankin was born, the first son of Harry and Jimmie Rankin. On March 14 1983, Walter Luke Bubenzer was born, the first son of Mark and Julia Bubenzer. Both would become attorneys like their fathers.
I am not sure exactly when Jimmie and Julia met, but I am pretty sure it involved doctor’s visits for our infant sons. After that our families became close and we spent a lot of time together over the next five years. There were some memorable moments. We were at Harry and Jimmy’s house on March 31 1984, when Georgetown smothered UK in the second half of the NCAA Championship Semi-Final. I remember going to the theater to see the first Die Hard movie together. There were Northern Kentucky Bar Christmas parties and similar social gatherings. When I ran for the state senate in 1988 Harry was one of my biggest supporters.
After I moved to Lexington in 1988 we had minimal contact. I would run into him at Keeneland or the KBA Convention and I could still feel the deep friendship. Whenever he would run into my former brother-in-law, Steve Ruschell, Harry would always ask about me and my family.
Harry and I worked together professionally on a couple of matters as well. What I do not remember is Harry being anything but an intelligent and competent attorney and a positive and friendly human being, always willing to lend a helping hand. Even those close to him would never have expected the anxiety that lurked under the surface.
I recently had lunch with Jimmie. We discussed Luke and Harry. She told me that his panic attacks began early in their marriage. That is why I called this post The Mask. What I now know about Harry and Luke and my brother Bill, is that individuals suffering from anxiety and depression often wear mask in public. They were three highly intelligent and gifted individuals. As such they were able to present a public persona that masked what was really going on inside of their heads. They did not want to let even those close to them to see what is really going on. Is it a pride thing?
I will talk further about Harry’s death in another post. For now I want to raise awareness that there may be attorneys with whom you interact regularly who are having difficulty functioning as we would expect. The problem is that we tend to look at them as bad lawyers rather than considering that they have an illness. They do not want to be the way they are and they probably will not ask us for help due to embarrassment. Even if they did, we are lawyers not doctors. What could we do for them? What we can do is just be there for them. Provide encouragement. Offer to help them with tasks and just let them know that you are there for them, to listen, not to judge.
To be continued……
The Trials of Luke 