From R-KIDS of MN and GPF

To R-KIDS of Minnesota Associates

It is with great sorrow that I announce to you that a friend of R-KIDS has passed away.

Thomas W. Strahan

Strahan, Thomas W. - Beloved Husband & Father Age 68 Of Minneapolis. Passed away suddenly November 13, 2003, from a heart attack. Tom was a lawyer. He had been active in the Civil Rights Movement, took many cases for people unable to pay him, and worked tirelessly to uphold the rights of the most vulnerable children. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather & friend. He will be missed terribly. Survived by loving wife, Carol; daughters, Alex (David) Crittenden and Cheryl Fundingsland; sons, Tom Strahan Jr. & Tim (Tina) Strahan; grandchildren, Mike & Dan Crittenden, Hannah, Stella and Paul Fundingsland, Victoria, Dylan, Christian & Alec Strahan; brothers, John & Bill Strahan; sister, Mary Mueller; and many other relatives, as well as friends. Visitation Monday 5-8PM at BRADSHAW (McDivitt-Hauge) 3131 Minnehaha Ave, Mpls. Funeral Service Tuesday 7PM at BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH, 730 13th Ave So., Mpls, with visitation from 6:30PM-7:00PM. Memorials preferred to New Life Family Services, one of Tom's favorite charities. Bradshaw 3131 Minnehaha Avenue 612-724-3621. Published in the Pioneer Press on 11/16/2003.

Tom also ran for the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2000. He would have been a champion for parental rights on the court as he was off. I know he helped numerous people in the battle against the courts. As Jack Graham stated, "Tom was probably one of the finest constitutional lawyers ever produced by the State of Minnesota, and an eminently good and gracious man." To that I add a hearty "AMEN".

I had the privilege, as well as Bob Carrillo to get to know this man. We both agree that this is a big loss for this state. Bob had Tom on his radio show a number of times. In the past year I served with and got to know Tom on the Sanctity of Life committee at Bethlehem Baptist Church. I ran many ideas and concerns of R-KIDS past Tom and he always gave me wise input. Some of the projects we are doing today are a product of his help. Tom referred many people to R-KIDS who were in need of help.

R-KIDS will miss him. But Tom would want you to know, " I am O.K. I put my trust and life in Jesus and Jesus gave me great joy. I am with him now."

If you knew Tom please come to his funeral and celebrate his life on Tuesday, November 18th, 2003, at 7pm, at Bethlehem Baptist Church, 720 13th Ave. South, Mpls, MN.

Timothy C. Kinley - President R-KIDS of Minnesota

Letter to Hon. Russel Anterson, Justice

Hon. Russell Anderson, Justice 
Minnesota Supreme Court 
25 Constitution Avenue 
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 USA

Dear Russell,

You may have heard that Tom Strahan died last week. His funeral will have been held by the time you receive this letter. I endorsed him in his bid for your seat three years ago, not because I ever had anything against you, far from it, but because I think, and doubt you would disagree that Tom was probably one of the finest constitutional lawyers ever produced by the State of Minnesota, and an eminently good and gracious man.

He was very much concerned by Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), for there Harry Blackmun contemptuously overthrew natural law and legal tradition on which the United States Constitution is founded, and denied legal dignity to human reality, as surely as Roger B. Taney had done in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 Howard 391 (U. S. 1857). And I am convinced that American jurisprudence will be corrupted and weakened by legal positivism until the question is impartially reviewed and Roe is modified or reversed. Tom wrote some magnificent amicus briefs before the United States Supreme Court on the question. For me some decriminalization of abortion is no problem, for I am close to conceding constitutional dimensions to the more humane and realistic principles of the common law, under which an unborn child is a legal person from an after conception in all civil litigation, yet abortion is not a crime before quickening, and then only a serious misdemeanor, nor is a felony possible until the child is born alive. And I believe Lord Ellenborough.s Act, which made abortion a felony from and after conception, was an unfortunate mistake. But Blackmun.s reckless misrepresentations and twisted logic have threatened our civilization, undermined our politics, and produced countless evils in our society, as Tom well understood. He was a man of tremendous vision and powerful intellect.

For me his passing his not occasion for sadness, but of gratitude, inspiring in myself the hope that, when my time comes, I too may walk through the portals of death after living a courageous and honorable career as a lawyer. I thought you would like to know about a friend whom we both had the privilege to know. He always spoke well of you.

Respectfully yours,

John Remington Graham