Raymond C. Schlegel

Raymond C. Schlegel, a retired Reading lawyer, died Sept. 29 at 8:18 p.m. in Phoebe Berks Health Care Center Inc., Wernersville, where he had resided since Jan. 2.

Schlegel, 74, formerly of Penn Township, was the husband of Carolyn H. (Helms) Schlegel, a resident at Phoebe Berks Village, Wernersville.

He was admitted to the Berks County Bar in 1955 after serving a clerkship with James W. Bertolet.

Schlegel was associated with Snyder, Balmer & Kershner before becoming a founding partner of Roland & Schlegel, Reading, in 1985. He practiced there until his retirement in 1999.

He was solicitor for the Western Berks Water Authority, Reading Municipal Airport and the Muhlenberg School Board and numerous township boards and authorities.

Schlegel also represented the Junior League of Reading and the Reading Civic Opera.

He was appointed a first assistant city solicitor in December 1963.

Born in Reading, he was a son of the late Carl A. and Lillie (Huyett) Schlegel.

A 1947 graduate of Muhlenberg High School, Schlegel was a 1951 magna cum laude graduate of Albright College where he was student council president, sports editor of the school's newspaper, student manager of the debating team and president of the Sigma Tau Delta chapter.

He was a 1954 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, where he was a member of the board of editors of the school's law review and served as co-case editor of the law review.

Schlegel was a member of Salem Belleman's Church, Centre Township.

He was a past trustee at Albright College and a past president of the Berks County Bar Association

Schlegel was selected by Gov. Dick Thornburgh in 1982 to a five-member committee to recommend a successor to Judge Frederick Edenharter.

In 2002, he was recipient of the Leroy Hyman Award for outstanding service including the pro bono program for which he was the first attorney to give his time.

Schlegel was one of the founders of the judicial evaluation committee in Berks County.

He was a past president and campaign chairman of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County.

In 1959, Schlegel was a Republican candidate for the Muhlenberg School Board.

He was a past president of the United Way of Berks County and Berks County Alumni Club of Albright College.

Schlegel is also survived by a son, Jeffrey A., Bernville; and two daughters, Suzanne R. Schlegel, Cazenovia, N.Y., and Barbara S. (Schlegel) Allessie, Palmyra, Lebanon County.

Other survivors include a brother, Richard H., New Jerusalem; and three grandchildren.

Memorial services will be private in Walter R. Christ Funeral Home Inc., Laureldale. Burial will be private in St. Daniel's Cemetery, Heidelberg Township.