SEPTEMBER 2024 | 111 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL in organizing Meals on Wheels in Claremore. Joe Carlos Lewallen Jr. of Oklahoma City died April 1. He was born July 17, 1960, in Tulsa. Mr. Lewallen graduated from OSU, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Order, with a degree in English in 1982. During school, he worked as a bailiff in the Payne County Courthouse, which was his introduction to the practice of law. He graduated from the OU College of Law in 1985. Mr. Lewallen was a member of the All Souls’ Episcopal Church for more than 30 years. He taught Sunday school with his wife and served on the church vestry and as an usher and lay reader. He served in leadership positions such as president of his fraternity, his law school class, Fellers Snider PLLC, the Board of Trustees at Heritage Hall, the Board of Trustees of Children’s Health Foundation, as well as Executive Committee member at McAfee & Taft PLLC and senior warden at All Souls’ Episcopal Church. He served as lead counsel for many of the largest real estate transactions in state history, and his efforts helped reshape his adopted hometown into the city it is today. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oklahoma Children’s Health Foundation. Kenneth David Lovell of Midway, Utah, died July 12. He was born Sept. 7, 1953, in Murray, Utah. He graduated from Sooner High School in Bartlesville and attended Brigham Young University before serving a mission in Spain for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He returned to BYU, where he graduated in 1978, and received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1981. For the majority of his career, he worked for ONEOK Inc. until his retirement in 2006. Mr. Lovell held many positions of responsibility in his church, including bishop, high councilor, stake president and patriarch. After retirement, he and his wife were called to serve three additional missions in Chile and Spain. J. Michael Mancillas of Edmond died April 22. He was born June 24, 1949, in Woodward. Mr. Mancillas graduated from OU with a bachelor’s degree in business and received his J.D. from the OU College of Law. During his career, Gov. George Nigh appointed him to serve as the first Hispanic judge on the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court of Existing Claims. Later, he established his own law firm, where he worked until his retirement in 2019. Memorial contributions may be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or a charity of your choice. James N. Posey of Bethany died June 29. He was born June 11, 1934, in Wellington, Texas. Mr. Posey graduated from Southern Nazarene University in 1955 and received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1957. He opened his law office in Bethany the following August, where he practiced for 67 years. He practiced in the areas of estate planning, trust administration, probates, real estate law and forming and servicing small business entities. He was one of the pioneers in the Oklahoma City area to utilize the revocable living trust. In 2021, he formed a professional association with Shelly A. Perkins, who plans to continue serving their clients and following the example of Mr. Posey. He served his community in various capacities, including president of the Southern Nazarene University Alumni Association and the Bethany Kiwanis Club, a member of the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of Deaconess Hospital, the Board of Directors of Lamb’s Theater in New York City and the Bethany First Church of the Nazarene. Memorial contributions may be made to the Shirley Joy Bell Posey Memorial Scholarship Fund at Southern Nazarene University. Bruce W. Robinett of Bartlesville died May 1. He was born Feb. 18, 1943, in rural Garfield County and learned his hardworking ways by working on the farm from an early age. Mr. Robinett graduated from OSU in three years with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He graduated from the OU College of Law in 1967, third in his class. While attending law school, he was a member of the Oklahoma Law Review Board of Editors from 1965 to 1967, the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity and the Order of the Coif. Upon graduating, Mr. Robinett joined Chester A. Brewer and Jesse J. Worten Jr. in Bartlesville at the law firm established by Mr. Brewer in 1928, now commonly known as Robinett | King. He distinguished himself as an attorney in the areas of oil and gas, estate planning, commercial transactions, agricultural law and commercial litigation. Mr. Robinett was a long-serving Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and an active member of his community. He served Bartlesville as a Trustee for the Lyon Foundation and Parsons Foundation and in various civil organizations.
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