Clifton B. Kruse died this morning. We are all poorer for the loss. Those of us who practice elder law, those who ever lived in Colorado Springs, CO, and anyone who ever knew Clifton personally is particularly impoverished.
In my third of a century of elder law practice I have never met another lawyer who managed to pull together sophistication, heartfelt empathy, intellectual rigor and courtly manner in the same fashion Clifton Kruse projected. He did it, to all appearances, effortlessly. He was a friend and mentor to many in the elder law community (I count myself among those legions).
Some of the dry, statistical stuff: Clifton Kruse was a President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. That meant that he first served for most of a decade as a Board member, Committee Chair and as various officers of the organization before taking its helm. Through all that time, and before, and after, he gave enlessly and tirelessly of himself. He made regular presentations on subjects sometimes esoteric, sometimes incisively practical and always well-researched and documented. Usually he spoke to national meetings, and his sessions were always the best-attended and highest-rated among his peers. But if any state or local bar association sought his attention, he was likely to consent to speak to anyone who wanted him. That meant practically everyone in the elder law and estate planning fields.
Clifton was named a Fellow of NAELA -- the highest honor the organization bestows -- even before he stepped up to the Presidency of the organization. He was one of a handful of lawyers nationwide who also was named a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Though the title ("Fellow") means something quite different in ACTEC (where there are several thousand) and NAELA (where there are about 50 nationwide), the honors were equivalent; he was one of the few lawyers who effortlessly straddled the divide between "elder law" and "trusts and estates."
He wrote sublimely. His treatise ("Third-Party and Self-Created Trusts") was and remains the primary resource on the topic, with all of its ramifications for special needs trusts and planning for incapacity. It is still available, and still priced at about $80-100 -- a pretty good indication that it is a central reference resource. But that wasn't the only writing style Clifton demonstrated. He also wrote "Selma's Cat and Other Things That Matter" (subtitled "A Lawyer's Intimate Conversations with His Elder Clients"). "Selma's Cat" grew out of a series of short essays he wrote about actual clients, how to understand them and how to interpret (or discover) what is important to them and what they really mean. As with all of his speaking and writing, "Selma's Cat" was rooted in Clifton's deep and genuine affection for his clients and his profession.
Everyone who ever met Clifton has stories about his warmth and humanity. He was notable for his common touch as well as his high-brow wine-tasting palate. Although I served on numerous committees and went to innumerable meetings with him, I think I may have seen him not wearing a necktie about three times in a dozen years. But he had the innate ability to simultaneously impress you with his dressed-up appearance (and the importance of the task he had set upon) while not making you uncomfortable about your own jeans and polo shirt.
Once, at the end of a long day of NAELA meetings, I bumped into Clifton in the hallway right after I had given a speech and as he was on his way to a meeting where he was one of the organizers and principals. He asked if I felt OK. I didn't, but I also didn't want to sidetrack him from his duties. He would have none of that. He escorted me to my room, started a warm bath, made me a cup of tea and all but tucked me in. Satisfied that I would live, he hustled off -- dreadfully late -- to his own meeting. It was quintessentially Clifton. His small kindnesses and his attention to his colleagues and fellow (there's that word again) human beings were legion and often noted.
Ironically and tragically, Clifton spent the last few years of his life debilitated by the very disease so common among his clients and their loved ones. Although I was twice in Denver during that period, I never mustered the grace or courage to drive down and visit him. I closely followed the reports of others, and I admired (from a distance intended to be respectful) the grace and courage of his wife Carolyn as she dealt with Clifton's decline. This afternoon it occurs to me that I owed Clifton a return on his selfless investment in my own well-being, and I regret not paying off.
My personal thanks go out to the late Clifton Kruse, and my deepest sympathy to his wife and family. He was a great man, and he is already missed. Now I need to retire to my (by his standards) very modest wine cellar, where I intend to raise a glass of the best Cabernet in our collection in honor of Clifton.
Robert B. Fleming
Fleming & Curti, PLC
Tucson, Arizona
www.FlemingAndCurti.com
PS: The first time I ever met Colorado lawyer (and now great friend) Baird Brown, he was giving a presentation before the Colorado Bar Association. I remember he said something like: "I'm about to tell you all the great secret about estate and gift taxation -- the secret that will allow you to handle any client. Do you have a pencil? Write this down: 303-xxx-xxxx." The phone number, of course, was Clifton Kruse's office number.
Do you have a Clifton Kruse story you would like to share? Feel free to Comment -- I'll post the best stories after I've reviewed them.
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