James Goldsborough Klair

James Goldsborough Klair, former Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge, a past Executive Associate Attorney General, and Assistant Public Defender, died July 30 of a stroke in Oxford, MD. He was 70 years old. Mr. Klair graduated from the Baltimore Poytechnic Institute, University of Maryland, and University of Baltimore School of Law. He served six years in the Maryland Army National Guard, receiving an Honorable Discharge in 1968. He was a member of Loophole Law Club in Baltimore, and a life-long member of Sigma Chi Fraternity In his twenty-two years with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, he rose to Executive Associate Attorney General under Attorneys General Bill Burch and Joseph Curran. During his tenure with the Attorney General’s Office, he was Counsel to the Maryland Judiciary, Maryland National Guard (Army & Air), and the Maryland Secretary of State. In 1989, as Deputy Chief Judge, appointed by Governor Wm. D. Shaffer, he helped establish the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, Maryland’s Central Panel of Administrative Law Judges, a cadre of 75 judges at that time, to conduct administrative hearings for twenty-eight state agencies throughout Maryland. Upon retirement in 1995, he opened a private law practice in Towson, MD, for a short time until permanently relocating to Oxford, MD, in 2002, where he worked with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, Mental Health Division, representing the mentally ill who were involuntarily committed to institutions; he retired in 2011. During his time in Oxford, Mr. Klair served as Town Commissioner for two terms, and also served on Oxford’s Board of Appeals, Cemetery Board, Oxford Day Committee, and was a member of the Tred Avon Yacht Club. He was known for his attention to detail, calm demeanor, warmth, and quick wit at town meetings. He was an avid sailor on board his boat “Shamrock,” and crewed on the winning boat, “Desperado,” in the Naval Academy-to-Oxford race in September 1981. He loved traveling in and out of the U.S, and was a voracious reader especially of history, including naval campaigns. He is survived by his loving spouse, the Honorable Mary Seeley Klair (retired ALJ); children, Jeffrey Klair, (Susan) of PA; Jennifer B. McDevitt (Brian) of NJ; Jeffrey C. Barranco of MA; Gregory C. Barranco, (Allison Porter) of MD; M. Courtenay Barranco of MD; and David O. Barranco of CA.; and grandchildren, Kendall and Hannah Klair, Brayden and Kaitlin McDevitt, and Luca and Alex Barranco. A visitation will be held on Friday, August 3, 2012, from 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., 200 S. Harrison St., Easton, MD 21601. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2012, at 11 a.m. at The Church of Holy Trinity, 502 S. Morris St., Oxford, MD 21654. Interment will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the Maryland Food Bank, 2200 Halethorpe Farms Road Halethorpe, MD 21227 and Maryland Special Olympics, 3701 Commerce Drive, Suite 103, Baltimore, Maryland 21227.

James Goldsborough Klair

March 20, 1942 - July 30, 2012