2/12/02--The Boston College Law School community is in mourning after losing its oldest living faculty member, Emil Slizewski, on February 11, 2002. Emil was 83.

"Emil's death is inexpressibly sad for the entire Law School community," said BC Law Dean John H. Garvey. "He taught more of our students than any teacher in our history. Emil used to say that he came to Boston College in 1937 and never left. In a way, that will continue to be true. He played a unique role in forming this school into the place it is today. We will be forever grateful to him."

Emil Slizewski was born in Dorchester and moved to Milton in 1954. Affectionately called "The Slew" by his friends, students and many admirers, he was an outstanding student as a member of the Boston College class of 1941, and the BC Law class of 1943. Immediately following graduation he was hired by the Law School as librarian, a position he held through 1948. His first courses taught were property and criminal law, but he is best remembered by generations of BC Law students, faculty and administrators for his legendary courses in trusts, estates and estate planning. Emil taught the majority of BC Law alumni, quite a few of them now near retirement-age themselves, at least once. Students found his courses some of the toughest and most rewarding on campus.

Faculty member and former Interim Dean James Rogers called Emil an inspiration to all who have been blessed to know him. "Multiple generations of Boston College Law School students have regarded The Slew's Trusts and Estates course as a rite of passage. Yet despite--or perhaps because of--his reputation for intellectual rigor, he was one of the School's best-loved teachers. All of us on the faculty can have no greater hope than that our students will feel some measure of the respect and affection that Emil's students had for him."

Professor Emeritus since 1989, Emil officially retired from teaching in 1998. Always a meticulous researcher, careful lecturer and inspired teacher, his lifetime of service to the school was recognized at the school’s 70th Anniversary event with the announcement of an annual faculty excellence award established in his name.

Visiting hours will be on Thursday, February 14 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Chapman Cole & Gleason, 5 Canton Avenue, Milton. The funeral will be at St. Mary of the Hills in Milton at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 15, and the Law School will hold a memorial service in his honor later this spring. In lieu of flowers donations in his memory may be sent to the Boston College Law School Fund.