Spencer L & Kathryn Ann Murphy

Spencer LeVan Kimball 

Spencer Le Van Kimball, legal scholar, insurance lawyer, law professor, husband and father, was born in Thatcher, AZ, Aug 26, 1918. He was the son of Spencer Woolley and Camilla (Eyring). On June 12, 1939, he married Kathryn Ann Murphy. They had six children, Barbara Jean (Thomas L. Sherman), Judith Ann (William Stillion), Kathleen Louise (Ken Sirotnik), Spencer David (Haila), Kent Douglas (Mary), Timothy Jay (Karen); 16 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. After 51 years of marriage, Kathryn died in 1990. Spencer married Virginia Barrus Johnson June 4, 1994, when he added two more children to his family, Linda (Keith Morgan), Rick Davis (Debbie); along with seven more grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He received his BS from the University of Arizona. Spencer served in World War II as a Lieutenant aboard the U.S.S. Franklin. Following the war he spent two years at Lincoln College, Oxford England as a Rhodes Scholar where he earned a BCL. He received an SJD from the University of Utah Law School. At 35 years of age, he was the youngest Dean of the University of Utah Law School. Spencer served as a Law Professor and Director of Legal Research at the University of Michigan. From there he went to the University of Wisconsin as a Dean of the Law School. Spencer became a Law Professor at the University of Chicago as well as the Executive Director of the American Bar Association Foundation in Chicago. He retired to Salt Lake after he lost his wife, Kathryn, to live by the mountains and his siblings. Spencer made many notable contributions to the field of law during his lifetime and was recognized both nationally and internationally for his work. He was Director of the Wisconsin Statutes Revision Project and his work remains a model for insurance codes to this day. Kimball was one of the co-founders of AIDA - an international insurance law association. He is also the author of many works on insurance law and regulation. Surviving are brothers and sister, Olive Beth Mack, Andrew and Phyllis Kimball, and Edward and Bee Kimball. In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions to the Kathryn Murphy-Spencer L. Kimball Scholarship Fund, Eastern Arizona College, P.O. Box 769, Thatcher, AZ 85552, are recommended.

[Deseret News, November 5, 2003]

Kathryn Ann Murphy Kimball

Kathryn Murphy Kimball, beloved wife of Spencer L. Kimball, former Dean of the University of Utah College of Law, died in Chicago July 3, 1990.

Surviving are her husband, six children and 13 grandchildren. Interment will be in Chicago [cremains spread in and Elmhurst, Illinois, cemetery]. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Eastern Arizona College Foundation for the Kathryn Murphy-Spencer L. Kimball Scholarship Fund, 6700 W. Church Street, Thatcher, Arizona, 85552-0769.

[Deseret News, July 7, 1990]