John Carey Obituary

John Harvey Carey, Col. (ret.), died in his sleep on March 6, 2017, in Seattle, Washington. Born in Detroit on May 15, 1928, John was the only child of Christina Leslie Mahon and Robert Raymond Carey. His father, a firefighter, died when John was seven. With the support of his mother, John persisted with his studies, graduated from Wayne (State) University, and joined the United States Air Force. He later enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, and upon graduation, became an officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps. His service to our country led him across the globe, with stints in Okinawa, Turkey, Wisconsin, California, Hawaii, and Colorado. He retired in the late '70s as the Staff Judge Advocate at the former Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. With time on his hands, he almost immediately embarked on a partnership with Norton Frickey of Denver to build a personal-injury law firm devoted the working class-and that firm still operates today. Norton Frickey & Associates pioneered many elements used by personal-injury lawyers today. With the able assistance of his wife Joan, John served as managing attorney for over two decades. John ran a tight ship and held everyone accountable, but still allowed his colleagues enough freedom to be their best. In his spare time, John was an avid Jazz fan, and a lifelong devotee of the Detroit troika-Red Wings, Lions, and Pistons.

John is survived by two children, Cathleen Marie Schilling of Seattle, Washington, and Robert Bruce Carey of Scottsdale, Arizona, and four grandchildren, Diana and Kevin Schilling and Holland and Cooper Carey. His son, John Harvey Carey II, and his wife, Joan Lenore Carey, preceded him in death.

After a small family service, inurnment will be at the Shrine of the Remembrance. John would have viewed flowers and memorial gifts as excessive and preferred instead a contribution to one's favorite charity.