Peter Kempel:
CLASS OF 1961
Salesian High SchoolClass of 1961
Detroit, MI
Peter's Story
I am presently a member of the State Bar of Michigan and have been teaching Legal Ethics at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing Michigan for the past 25 years. I've been teaching at Cooley since 1973 and am the longest serving faculty member.
My wife, Kathy, and I have two quarter horse mares. We ride English Saddle and compete (poorly) at Hunter/Jumper Equitation - jumping over fences (usually with the horse).
Kathy and I met at the University of Detroit Theater in 1967. She was completing her junior year in high school and I had just finished my masters degree and had entered law school. We were in a number of plays together.
Kathy graduated from college and I graduated from law school on the same day. We got married the next year. I was working at the Michigan Court of Appeals. We moved to Lansing and have lived here ever since.
Kathy got a second degree in Clothing and Textiles at Michigan State University and set up her own sewing business. I went to work at Cooley Law School for Justice Thomas E. Brennan. I had worked on his first winning common pleas court campaign while a senior in high school at Salesian. He went on to become a circuit court judge and then a justice on the Michigan Supreme Court. He got the idea to start Cooley Law School while Chief Justice and received letters from people who wanted to go to law school but were unable to get into Michigan, Wayne State, U of D or the Detroit College of Law. He believed there was a market for a fifth law school in Michigan and formed Cooley in September 1972. I had taught legal research and ran the law library at the University of Detroit Law School. Justice Brennan hired me to set up the Cooley Law Library and teach Legal Research and Writing which I did for about 14 years. I didn't like it. I wanted to practice law. I tried to escape Cooley several times, but was unsuccessful. Finally, when the dean had difficulty recruiting faculty members to teach legal ethics, I volunteered and have been teaching it ever since. I've also taught contracts and commercial law, statutory interpretation and statutory drafting, evidence law and trial practice.
Representing nonprofit groups before the legislature, I eventually got into politics. I worked on some bills with Senator Mike O'Brien who graduated from Salesian in 1961. I served as campaign coordinator for our local prosecutor and did it again when he ran successfully for circuit judge. I worked on a number of city, district court, and state legislative campaigns.
Kathy discontinued her sewing business and went to work for a C.P.A. firm. One of the people she worked with during tax s...Expand for more
eason owned a horse farm and riding stable. She invited Kathy and the other members of the firm to visit the farm and get a free riding lesson. Kathy was the only one to take the riding lesson and shortly thereafter quit the C.P.A. firm and went to work full time at the horse farm. She bought a horse and I soon realized if I was going to see her any more I would have to get a horse and learn to ride too. That was about 17 years ago. We moved from East Lansing to Watertown Township next to DeWitt, just down the road from Fox Brush farm where Kathy still works. I am still riding and jumping my horse Dicey Riley, who is 26 years old. Our combined ages total 92.
Some of the farmers in the neighborhood were having trouble with the Township Board. The board members were trying to recall the Township supervisor, who was the only member of the board who listened to farmer concerns. I had successfully sued the township earlier for misusing their zoning ordinances. The farmers approached me to run a recall campaign against the board members who had been giving them a hard time. I don't like recall elections, but I agreed to help my neighbors and was pleasantly surprised when we won. Unfortunately their supervisor was also recalled. I asked which of them planned to run for supervisor, clerk and treasurer to fill the vacancies. Nobody wanted to run for supervisor so they asked me to run. I did and won. It was hard balancing two jobs, so at the conclusion of my term I ran for township trustee which did not require the same time commitment and won again. I ran again for trustee, didn't campaign very hard and lost by three votes. I was encouraged to ask for a recount, but I decided this was a great opportunity to get out of politics.
Now I am semi-retired. I teach two out of three terms a year, and after 2010 I'll just be teaching one term a year.
In the meantime I keep busy giving talks to community groups about public issues. I do some farming with my Massey-Ferguson 255 tractor and my Toro Dingo front end loader. I ride three days a week. I serve as a consultant to my students who have graduated and are now in practice. I get about 1 call a month.
I hear from Frank DeMilde from time-to-time and see or hear from Tony Sutton and his wife Kathie down in Jackson on a monthly basis. Speaking of Jackson, I thought it might be a great idea to have our Fiftieth Graduation Anniversary at Jackson Prison before they close it down completely, because so many of our classmates are already residents. It's great to see so many Salesian grads are still ambulatory and not so goofey as to require restraints. Write if you get work.
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Photos
