Kenneth Ernest Roberts, 89, was born Oct. 01, 1922. Ken peacefully slipped away Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, just a few weeks short of his 90th birthday. He leaves behind a loving family and a worldwide cohort of friends and admirers.

Ken was born in 1922 in the village of Plumstead, on the outskirts of London. He was raised both there and in South Africa, his father’s home. As a young man, he signed on with a Scottish shipping company, hoping to become a merchant marine officer, and sailed as a cadet at age 18 or 19. His maritime career interrupted by the Second World War, Ken promptly enlisted in the Royal Air Force, and was dispatched to Canada and the RCAF to receive his pilot training. Much to his distress, he so excelled that he was promptly made an instructor pilot for the RAF and RCAF, until in late 1944, when he was finally able to wrangle operational duty. Assigned to a clandestine “special duties” squadron as a Flight Lieutenant, Ken spent the balance of the war flying missions in B 24 “Liberator” bombers, inserting by parachute or resupplying guerillas (both by low altitude, usually nighttime drops) in the Burma, China, South and Southeast Asian theaters from bases in Ceylon and India. The missions were flown in stripped-down aircraft, carrying extra fuel which permitted the 20 to 23-hour flights.

In the late summer of 1946, Ken resigned his commission (he’d been teaching young British officers to fly the legendary Spitfire), and emigrated to the United States, as he’d developed, during the war, a fondness for the American sense of equality. Washing up ultimately in Portland, he enrolled in what was then the Northwestern College of Law (now Lewis & Clark). Earning his degree in 1951, he joined the firm which later bore his name, now known as Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt. It is no exaggeration to say that Ken, along with several of his contemporaries (lifelong friends like John Schwabe, Bruce Spaulding, Wayne Williamson, Cal Souther and others) built the successful regional law firm. A superb trial lawyer, Ken developed from scratch the firm’s vibrant maritime practice, in the process becoming nationally respected in the admiralty law community.

He served on the Executive Committee of the Maritime Law Association, and as a member of the Oregon Board of Bar Examiners. He served on the Board of Governors of the Oregon State Bar, and for many years was a member of the Advisory Board for the Admiralty Law Institute at Tulane University. He lectured and wrote widely on the topic of maritime law, and was proud of winning an admiralty case in the United States Supreme Court. He was a President of the University Club of Portland and a longtime member of the Multnomah Athletic Club.

Most of all, Ken, was devoted to his family.

Ken asked that any remembrances be directed to the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, to the Northwestern College of Law of Lewis & Clark College, to Jesuit High, or to the Japanese Garden Society, all of which held special places in his life.