Judge Lawrence S. Margolis, of the United States Court of Federal Claims, died Wednesday, January 18, 2017. The cause of death was acute cardiovascular illness. In 1971, he was appointed a Magistrate-Judge for U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Margolis to the United States Court of Federal Claims, where he served as an active judge for 31 years and remained on recall through 2016. Judge Lawrence S. Margolis was inducted into the Central High School Hall of Fame in 2009. Established in 1836, Central High is America's second-oldest public high school and Philadelphia's first citywide magnet school, with rigorous academic admissions standards. It has graduated more classes than any other public high school in the country. Of Central's tens of thousands of alumni, only 86 have been named to its Hall of Fame, including an astronaut, Nobel Laureate, Olympian, and internationally-known scientists, jurists, artists, and academicians. Following his graduation from Central with Honors, Judge Margolis went on to The Drexel Institute of Technology (now, Drexel University) where he earned a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering; he then moved to Washington, DC, where he served as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent Office during the day and attended the George Washington University (GWU) Law School at night. After receiving a J.D. degree from the law school, he served as patent counsel for the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory and then embarked on a series of assignments as a prosecutor: first, Assistant Attorney General for the District of Columbia, then Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and Trial Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and finally Assistant U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia. Both Drexel and GWU have presented Judge Margolis with their Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award; Drexel also named him as one of its 100 most outstanding graduates, and GWU honored him with a special Service Award. During his tenure as president of the National GWU Law Alumni, Judge Margolis was instrumental in saving the night law school. He is a former trustee of Drexel, and former member of the board of managers of Central High. Active in the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, he served as an officer and editor of its Young Lawyers Association, hosting educational TV shows and a weekly community service radio interview show; he also co-founded a much-needed Big Brothers project for juveniles in correctional institutions, personally mentoring a number of teen-aged boys. Judge Margolis was a director of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and, for seven years, editor of its journal, and was honored by both the Association and its Young Lawyers Association for outstanding service. He has served as chair of two American Bar Association divisions: Special Court Judges, and Federal, State, and Local Judges. He is also a member of the Inn of Courts and the recipient of many awards and honors from his peers. In 1974, Judge Margolis joined the Rotary Club of Washington, DC, and subsequently became president of the club and, shortly thereafter, was elected Rotary International District Governor for District 7620, responsible for overseeing all 65 Rotary clubs in that District, which includes Washington and Central Maryland. Several years ago, he recommended that the Washington Rotary Club institute a project by which its members purchase and present age-appropriate dictionaries to each third-grade DC public school student every year; the Club has now distributed these dictionary-research books to over a hundred thousand third-graders in Washington, DC public and public charter schools. Judge Margolis was also a past president of the Rotary Foundation of Washington, DC, and served Rotary International (RI) in numerous executive capacities: e.g., RI Representative to the Organization of American States, RI Representative to the World Bank, RI President's Representative, and RI District 7620 Delegate to the triennial Rotary International Council on Legislation. For his extraordinary service to Rotary, he has received many high awards, including "Rotarian of the Decade+." He has been an active supporter of many other local entities, including Center for Inspired Teaching, the Inspired Teaching Demonstration Public Charter School, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Washington Civic Opera, and Rotaract, and often sits as a Moot Court Judge for law students at a number of universities. He is a frequent speaker on the law, both in the U.S. and abroad. Judge Margolis was the son of the late Reuben and Mollie Margolis, and is survived by his wife Doris, his children, Paul and Jennifer Margolis, Aleta Margolis and Michael Brodsky, and his grandchildren Isabel and Mira Margolis Brodsky. Funeral service for Judge Lawrence S. Margolis 10:00am Sunday, January 22, 2017 Ohev Shalom -The National Synagogue 1600 Jonquil St., NW, Washington, DC 20012 (16th and Jonquil St., NW) The family will begin receiving guests at 9:30; the service begins at 10:00. Street parking on 16th St. Followed by burial at Judean Memorial Gardens 16225 Batchellors Forest Rd, Olney, MD 20832 After the funeral, we are welcoming friends and family at the home of Aleta Margolis and Michael Brodsky 3410 Turner Lane Chevy Chase, MD 20815 And Shiva will be held at the house as well through Tuesday evening. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Rotary Foundation of Washington, DC, Central High School in Philadelphia, PA, or Center for Inspired Teaching.

Temple Service

JAN 22. 10:00 AM

Ohev Shalom 1600 Jonquil St NW Washington, DC, 20012