Obituary of Richard Heverin Mayfield

Richard Heverin Mayfield was born on September 29, 1921 as the second of three sons of Robert Edwin and Helen Benton Mayfield. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and at the age of 14 moved with his family to Chevy Chase, Maryland. He died in Washington, D. C. at the age of 94 on January 24, 2016. As a teenager, Dick got interested in tennis through one of his uncles. He played in college and in his junior year was number one on the varsity team and was Captain of the team. Because of World War II he missed his senior year on the team. He loved tennis and played throughout his life well into his 80's. Neither of his parents had attended college. They were very eager for all of their boys to get a higher education. His mother actually called the Dean of Harvard Law School while he was a senior in high school to ask him where Dick should go to college. The Dean told her not to send him to Harvard as there were too many applicants from there. He suggested 10 other schools including Swarthmore. Dick attended Swarthmore College, majoring in Political Science in an honors program and minoring in Economics and Philosophy. He was inducted into the U.S. Army in March 1943 where he ended up studying French intensively at the University of Illinois. In that program he would have ended up being assigned to a unit of combat gliders who were shot down and killed in the invasion of Normandy. Instead, luck was on his side when a friend's father found out where they were in school and had Dick and one of his friends reassigned to a Civil Affairs/Military Government Detachment in Europe instead. Among other things, he was a jeep driver for Army officers. After the Battle of the Bulge, Dick spent several weeks supervising the burial of about 200 dead horses which had been commandeered by the Germans from the local farmers to tow their vehicles when the Germans had run out of gasoline. Another job that he held during the invasion of Germany was prosecuting German civilians in the Military Government Court. After his military service, he started Harvard Law School in 1946. After graduating in 1948, he got a job at McKenney, Flannery & Craighill which later became Craighill, Mayfield, Fenwick, Cromelin & Cobb, L.L.P. where he practiced as a lawyer for 66 years. He retired in December 2014. His firm is the oldest continuously operating law firm in Washington, D. C.. Dick's work was a huge part of his life. His practice focused on the fields of estate planning and administration, trusts, real property and taxation. He had many prominent clients including many judges (supreme court, court of appeals, district court, tax court, superior court), as well as many generals and many other nationally known businessmen and women. He married his first wife, Anne Warren Bird, in July 1949. Dick and Anne had three daughters: Elinor Biller (married to Gary, children: Nick Biller and Lauren Biller), Nancy Mayfield (married to Rick May, children: Stephanie May Wilson - married to Carl Wilson in 2013, Kelly May) and Anne (Jan) Mayfield (married to Gus Mohammadi, children: Christopher Todd (deceased), Melissa Todd, step-daughter: Mitra Mohammadi). Christopher married Stephanie Todd in 2006. Dick said he always felt outnumbered by the women in his life having three daughters! After they divorced in 1974, Dick married Caroline Cromelin in December 1977. He and Caroline just celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary. Caroline has two children from a previous marriage: Paul Cromelin (married to Margaret, children: Caroline and Bo) and Carey Cromelin (married to Paul Williams, children: Virginia and George). After a long search, in the early 1980's, Dick bought his beloved retreat which he named "Grandfather's Mountain" in Boonesboro, Maryland. The renovations of the house took many years, making it into a showpiece which he enjoyed sharing with family and friends. Dick and Caroline became very active in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sharpsburg, Maryland and especially loved the minister, Rev. John Alfriend. They attended services there for at least twenty years. As with all of his endeavors, Dick was very generous to the church to help improve it. One of Dick's other loves was hunting. He spent many happy years hunting deer, ducks, geese and turkeys both on his friends' properties as well as on Grandfather's Mountain. Dick was very sad to have to sell Grandfather's Mountain a year ago when he could no longer go up there because of his health. Dick was a very generous person who hoped that the care he gave family, friends and clients alike made the world a better place. He relished the friendships that developed over the years with his clients and cared for them as if they were his own family. Dick belonged to numerous organizations: Washington, D. C. Estate Planning Council Beauvoir School Governing Board (1961-67) Temple-Noyes Cathedral Lodge #32 F.A.A.M. (Master 1964) Royal Order of Jesters (Director 1975) Almas Temple (Shrine) Scottish Rite Columbia Country Club Farmington Country Club The Barristers Club The Lawyers Club Fellow, American College of Probate Counsel (State Chairman for the District of Columbia 1978; Member of Board of Regents 1985-1987) (now known as the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel