It is with extreme sadness that we share with you news of the passing of Josiah H. Blackmore II, Capital University’s 12th president.
Josiah died peacefully at approximately 1:45 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 26, at Cleveland Clinic from complications of hepatitis C. He was 72.
Calling hours will be Friday evening, Sept. 28, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Schoedinger Northeast Chapel, 1051 E. Johnstown Road, Gahanna, Ohio. The funeral will be held Saturday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. at Worthington Presbyterian Church, 773 High St., Worthington, Ohio. The burial will be private.
(Due to Worthington's Market Day activities and the closure of several streets, please plan to arrive early. Park in the Thomas Worthington High School lot, 300 W. Dublin-Granville Road. Shuttles will be available to take you to the church, or you may choose to walk the two blocks to the church.)
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Josiah to Capital University or Worthington Presbyterian Church.
Josiah H. Blackmore II was named president of Capital University in 1988, following a year of service as interim president of the university. His affiliation with Capital began in 1969, when he served as an adjunct professor in the Law School. In 1970, he left the practice of law and joined the faculty as a full-time professor. In 1979, he was named acting dean, followed by his appointment as dean of the Law and Graduate Center in 1980.
Josiah was a recognized authority in the area of evidence, having co-authored the Ohio Evidence Law Treatise and having served on the Ohio Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee. He was a recipient of the Ohio Municipal League award for service to the legal profession. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association, American Law Institute and other legal and educational organizations.
He retired from the office of the president in 1998 after more than a decade of service as the university’s 12th president, but continued to serve as a part-time Law School faculty member. Through the years, Blackmore taught Evidence, Civil Procedure, Legal Systems, Professional Responsibility, Justice, and Conflicts of Law. He was the first holder of Capital Law School’s Newton D. Baker/Baker & Hostetler Chair.
He received a bachelor’s degree in government from Miami University in 1956, and a juris doctor cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1962. In 1986, he received an honorary doctor of humanities from Capital; in 1989, he received an honorary doctorate from Miami. Blackmore received numerous honors, including recognition as Capital University Law School’s Outstanding Professor in 1977, the President’s Award from the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the Columbus Bar Association Liberty Bell Award. He was named a 1991 Golden Achievement Award recipient by Doctors Hospital and was presented with the Living Faith Award in Education from the Metropolitan Area Church Council in 1992. He received the prestigious Order of the Coif in 1962.
Josiah was honored on Nov. 10, 2005, by the Columbus Bar Foundation with its Presidential Award for Lifetime Service. The award, presented by Past President Cynthia Lazarus, recognized his lifetime commitment to the Columbus legal community. President Blackmore served on both the Columbus Bar Association and Foundation boards. In summer 2004, Blackmore was appointed by Governor Bob Taft, under the advice and consent of the Ohio Senate, to the Ohio Ethics Commission. The commission advises on ethical issues that occur in state government.
He was past president of the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America and past chair of the Council of College Presidents of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (Capital University is one of the oldest and largest schools of the ELCA.) Blackmore served on the boards of Children’s Hospital; the Higher Education Council of Columbus; the Academy of Medicine of Columbus & Franklin County Foundation; the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges; and chair of the board of directors of the Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Ohio.
He also was a member of the executive committee of the Collegiate Council of International Studies. Blackmore served on the board of I KNOW I CAN Inc.; chaired the Internationalization Committee of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce from 1991-93; and was a member of the board of governors of the Columbus Bar Association. During his career, Josiah was the author of numerous articles addressing legal, higher education, ethics and international issues.
Upon retiring from Capital in 1998, he and his wife, Joyce, moved to a farm in Blacklick, Ohio, to raise alpacas and keep bees. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children and four grandchildren: Anne Wessels-Paris, her husband, Mike, and her son, Alex, 17, of Cincinnati; son Josiah H. Blackmore III of Toronto, Canada; and Judith Dann, her husband, Mark, and their children, Emma, 10, Josiah, 6 and Grace, 3, of Homer, Ohio.
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