FEBRUARY 2025 | 71 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Eric H. Hermansen of Oklahoma City died Dec. 17. He was born Feb. 5, 1944, in Atlanta. Mr. Hermansen received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1968 and a Master of Arts in political science in 1973 from Midwestern State University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma. He received his J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 1981. During law school, he taught government and political science courses at Oklahoma City Community College. He returned to teaching in the late 2000s for several years. Mr. Hermansen practiced law in the Oklahoma City area for more than 40 years and took pride in being an attorney of the people. Memorial contributions may be made to Inheritance Adoptions or Mr. Hermansen’s funeral expenses at Vondel L. Smith & Sons Mortuaries. Stephen Pendaries Kerr of Tulsa died July 15. He was born Nov. 10, 1944. Mr. Kerr graduated with his bachelor’s degree from OU. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1969 and his LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School. He also pursued further postgraduate study at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston and the Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands. Early in his career, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. He also became an adjunct professor of public international law and human rights. Memorial contributions may be made to the Tulsa Knights of Columbus. Eric Russell Schelin of Portland, Oregon, died March 18, 2024. He was born May 5, 1976, in Butte, Montana. He attended Butte High School and Montana Technological University, where he graduated with honors. Mr. Schelin moved to Tulsa in 2000, where he worked full time as a contract negotiator at Williams Communications while attending the TU College of Law. He received his J.D. with honors in 2002 and was awarded the Student Bar Association President’s Award. He began his legal career at the Tulsa law firm of Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers PLLC and had recently moved to Oregon and joined a new start-up firm in Portland before his death. Ronald Stephan Willdigg of Floral Park, New York, died Aug. 14. He was born Oct. 13, 1942. Mr. Willdigg received his J.D. from the OU College of Law. Bert Randolph Willert of Columbia, Tennessee, died Nov. 22. He was born June 15, 1962, in La Jolla, California. Mr. Willert graduated from La Jolla High School in 1980. He took an interest in music at a young age and started playing the drums in junior high. He played the drums for more than four decades and performed with several bands, including Army of Love, The Voices, The Greasy Petes, Red Truck and Billy Bacon & The Forbidden Pigs. He could also sing and play multiple instruments by ear. Mr. Willert graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1990. He received his J.D. cum laude from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2004, where he was an editor of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review and the Legal Writing II honors course, and his LL.M. from the University of San Diego School of Law. His career as a probate attorney included practice in the areas of tax, business, real estate, bankruptcy, entertainment law and corporate law. For 15 years, he taught graduate-level courses in business law as an online instructor for Liberty University. He was an active member of Calvary Chapel, where he served as an instructor for the School of Ministry. Richard D. Winzeler of Edmond died Oct. 15. He was born Feb. 10, 1935, in Gridley, Kansas. Mr. Winzeler graduated from Gridley Rural High School in 1953, a class of 22 students, and from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1957. He was president of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Mr. Winzeler began working for Pan American Petroleum and Transport Co. and later for Moak, Hunsaker and Rouse CPAs. During this time, he attended night classes at the OCU School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1965. He became a trust officer at Liberty Bank Trust Department. Afterward, he worked as a tax partner with Robinson, DeCordova & Billups CPAs, which eventually became Grant Thorton CPAs, where he retired after 43 years in public accounting. Mr. Winzeler also served on the board of Nichols Hills Bank, now RCB Bank. He was a member of Crossings Community Church and enjoyed his men’s bible study at Oak Tree. Memorial contributions may be made to Crossings Community Church.
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