Ex-BJ reporter Lally dies at 61

Charles J. Lally, a former Beacon Journal reporter who has been a conference attorney for the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals since 1991, died suddenly at the age of 61.

Lally, an avid cyclist, was on a bike tour to Austin, Texas and apparently died quietly in his sleep. His wife, Marlene, said Lally has been taking bike tours all over the country for the last four or five years. The tours often cover up to 100 miles a day, she said. Lally had left a week ago for Austin and she had talked to him regularly by phone. She got a call from the Ohio Supreme Court stating that the tour director was trying to get in touch with her and then she was told he died in his sleep.

There was a brief obituary, reprinted below, in the Beacon Journal, today.

Lally left the Beacon Journal in March, 1982. He received a B.A. from Kent State University and his J.D. from the University of Akron School of Law. He is a graduate of the Harvard Law School Negotiation Program and had specialized training in negotiations nd mediation through the University of New Mexico and Capital University. He was engaged in private practice before joining the Appeals Court. Court. Conference Attorneys, who have offices on the first floor of the Cuyahoga County Court House, conduct the Appellate Court's Prehearing Conference Program established in 1991. The program is designed to settle civil cases before the parties in pending appeals.

Funeral mass for Lally will be at Gesu Church, 2490 Miramar Blvd., University Hiehgts, at 10 .m. Wednesday. A son, Charles, mentioned in the obituaray below is opening a drugstore in Tallmadge. Son Thomas is an accountant in Marion, OH, and son Daniel is a chemistry major studying medicine at Cleveland State University.

Here is the obituary:

Charles J. Lally, age 61, beloved husband, of Mariene N. (nee Nemer); dear father, of Charles N. (wife Kristin), Thomas M. (wife Brande), and Daniel R.; grandfather, of Gwyneth, Kate, and Emma; brother, of John P. and William Lally and Patricia Bystrom.

Funeral Mass at Gesu Church, 2490 Miramar Blvd., University Heights Wednesday 10 a.m., (please meet at church) Interment private. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial gifts to The Cleveland Hiking Club, P.O. Box 24508, Pepper Pike, Ohio 44124 or Crown Point Ecology Center, P.O. Box 484, 3220 Ira Rd., Bath, Ohio 44210. Arrangements by (Maher-Melbourne Funeral Home 216-382-4500.) Condolences at www.mahermelbourne.com.
[Akron Beacon Journal, Monday, April 23, 2007, page B4, col. 1]