Obituaries: Sept. 20, 2010

Charles Bruce Elderkin

Charles Bruce Elderkin of Charlotte died on Sept. 10.  He was 72 years old.

He was born on July 4, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio. Elderkin graduated from Purdue University in 1960 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was a Kappa Sigma. After graduating, Elderkin joined the U.S. Patent Office as an examiner of patent applications in the mechanical arts.

While there, he attended George Washington University and earned his law degree in 1964. After passing the Virginia bar exam, he entered the U.S. Air Force and served for three years as a Judge Advocate in Florida.

He then joined a small law firm in New York City where he practiced patent law. In 1969, he moved to Charlotte and joined the patent law firm of Bell Seltzer Park and Gibson. He remained a partner there through the firm’s 1997 merger with Alston & Bird until his retirement in July 2008.

He served as president of the Carolinas Patent and Trademark Law Association, and for the past three years, he was the U.S. president of the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (commonly known as FICPI).

Elderkin was a member of the Charlotte Jaycees, the Council for Children and the Board of Visitors of the Lineberger Cancer Center. He served as president of the Charlotte Council on Alcoholism. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Fletcher School, coached a Little League baseball team in the Myers Park Trinity League and was Scout Master of Troop 79 for several years. He was a member of Christ Church, Charlotte Country Club and Linville Golf Club.

James Richardson Mattocks

James Richardson Mattocks, 91, formerly of High Point, died Sept. 10.

Born Jan. 14, 1919 in High Point, Mattocks graduated from High Point High School in 1934, from High Point College in 1938 and from Duke University Law School in 1941.

He practiced law in High Point until his retirement in 1993. He was a member of the High Point Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

For many years Mattocks served as chairman of the N.C. Yearly Meeting Society of Friends (Quaker) Peace Committee, and he was a long-time board member of the American Friends Service Committee.

During World War II, he spent four years in Civilian Public Service as a conscientious objector, serving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, at Eastern State Mental Hospital in Virginia and as a smoke jumper with the U.S. Forest Service in Montana. During the Civil Rights movement Mattocks participated in the historic march on the courthouse in Selma, Ala., and he was involved in numerous activities to promote racial justice in the High Point area. He steadfastly participated in peace vigils during the Vietnam War.

Mattocks helped establish the original legal services project in High Point and served on the board. He also assisted with the Model Cities programs.

A founder of the N.C. American Civil Liberties Union, he received the Frank Porter Graham Award in 1984 from the NCACLU. He was a past recipient of the Brotherhood Award from the High Point Chapter of the National Council of Christians and Jews. In 1985 the High Point Human Relations Commission named Mattocks and his wife the “High Point Citizen of the Year.”

He was the founder of the Catesby Bird Club in High Point and served as chief nature counselor for the Uwharrie Council of the Boy Scouts of America for 20 years. He was also an initial board member for the High Point Environmental Center, which became Piedmont Environmental Center.

Herbert L. Toms Jr.

Herbert Logan Toms Jr. died Sept. 10 of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 82 years old.

Toms was born on Aug. 11, 1928, in Shelby, and was a graduate of Shelby High School, Pennsylvania State College of Optometry in Philadelphia and the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Law Review.

After practicing optometry in Concord, he served in the U.S. Army from 1951-1953, retiring with the rank of captain.

His career in law began with the firm of Arendell, Albright, and Green and continued with the firm of Jordan, Dawkins and Toms. He joined First Title Insurance Company in 1965 and later became president and general counsel of AMI Title Insurance Company.

In 1975 he was one of the organizers of United Title Insurance which became United Title Company where he served as chairman of the board and senior counsel.

He was a member of the Wake County Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar, Carolina Country Club and Christ Episcopal Church.