Terence L. Meany, 83

Terence “Terry” Leo Meany, 83, passed away on July 15, 2011, in Austin.

Terry was born in Austin on March 30, 1928, to Francis P. and Ruth Meany. He was a 1946 high school graduate from St. Augustine (now Pacelli). Other schools attended were Loras College (1946-47) and St. Thomas College (1947-48). He earned his juris doctorate in 1953 from the University of Minnesota Law School.

He served with the United States Army from 1953-1955 in the Judge Advocate General’s Office.

As a founding partner in the law firm Leighton, Meany, Cotter and Enger, Ltd., he was a civil litigation trial lawyer who focused on and tried in both state and federal courts, scores of personal injury and death cases involving auto, farm equipment, product liability and workers’ compensation matters from 1955-2003.

He was a long-time member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, for which he served as a member on the board of governors for 15 years. He was certified as a civil trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and as a civil trial specialist by the Minnesota Bar Association and was approved as a qualified neutral mediator and arbitrator by the Supreme Court of Minnesota.

He was elected as a “Super Lawyer” in the field of personal injury law by the American Research Corporation which published “The Leading Minnesota Attorneys” guide. His most significant trial was against General Motors claiming a power steering defect, which was tried for four weeks in Austin and resulted in one of only two such verdicts in history against General Motors, which was found negligent for failure to warn users of the defect.

An avid golfer, he served on the board of directors of the Minnesota Golf Association from 1980-1992. He also served as president of the Austin Chamber of Commerce in 1969.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara, of 58 years; daughters: Debbie Bergeson and her husband Jeff; Lisa Kline and her husband Glenn; Nancy Pricer and her husband Leonard; grandchildren, Lindsay Zisler, Laura Bergeson, Kevin Kline, Elizabeth Kline, Terry Pricer, and Hanna Pricer; sisters, Helen Wellin, Ruth Murphy, Ann Huntley and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Francis P. and Ruth Meany, and his brother and sister-in-law, Thomas and Dorothy Meany, respectively.

Visitation will be held Monday, July 18, 2011, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Clasen-Jordan Mortuary. Funeral services will be held at St. Augustine on Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at 11 a.m.