entirely from his years with a Charleston, West Virginia, law firm. That experience, I'm sure, gave Bill his unusual sensitivity to the concerns and difficulties routinely encountered by practitioners in court.

Judge Drennen was first elected Chief Judge for a 2-year term to succeed Judge Tietjens (another giant of the Court) on July 1, 1967, and he was subsequently elected to two additional 2-year terms.

My first meeting with Bill Drennen well illustrates my point. The tax lawyers of the New Jersey bar, of which I was and am a member, were much aggrieved by having to try their Tax Court cases in New York City, which was a considerable inconvenience when you consider all the impedimenta a trial lawyer has to take to court, including clients, witnesses, files, etc. In addition, New Jersey at that time was the nation's fourth largest collection district, so there was plenty of work in New Jersey.

As chairman of the New Jersey Tax Section, I led a delegation down to Washington to talk to the Chief Judge of the Tax Court-Judge Drennen-about getting a permanent Tax Court courtroom set up in Newark. He showed considerable interest and sympathy for our cause, and in due course, the miracle happened: we got our courtroom. Now, this might not have been Bill's most popular move with the other Judges, who found Newark unglamourous, but it sure did make Bill a lot of friends in New Jersey.

Later on, when I was an officer of the ABA Taxation Section, Nancy and I got to know Bill and Maggie pretty well, and we did a certain amount of socializing together.

At the spring meeting of the Taxation Section in 1979, the section held a luncheon in Bill's honor, which was attended by Maggie, Senator Long, Chairman of the Finance Committee, the Commissioner, I believe, and other dignitaries. The Section Chair paid tribute to the many things Bill had done during his 6 years as Chief Judge to bring about cordial relationships between the Court and the private bar, a relationship which, incidentally, prevails today.

I also remember the occasion well for another reason: Judge Tannenwald announced that President Carter had appointed me to the Tax Court and said that he hoped Senator Long would get me confirmed soon, which he did.

About a year later, in June 1980, Bill took Senior status. I remember trying to dissuade him, because, rather selfishly I now see, I had looked forward to our being active colleagues together for a few more years, at least.

A few years after that, Bill fully retired to become a fulltime golfer and all the good things that go with that. We, his colleagues really began to miss him then, and we still do. Personally, I will always think of Bill as the kind of judge I'd like to have if I were still a lawyer trying cases today. Thank you.

CHIEF JUDGE WELLS: Thank you, Judge Nims. Now we will hear from Brook Voght, a former law clerk of Judge Drennen's who is in the private practice of law with the Washington D.C., law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennen. Brook.

MR. VOGHT: Thank you, Chief Judge Wells. May it please the Court, ladies and gentlemen, including members of the Drennen family, Judges, and staff, and good family friends, it is indeed an honor and a pleasure to offer a few remarks about our friend, the Honorable William M. Drennen.

Beginnning an incredible 30 years ago, I enjoyed a 2-year clerkship with Judge Drennen. Although I do not presume to speak for all of the other lawyers who served Judge Drennen as attorneyadvisors over the years, perhaps some of my remarks can provide some observations that many who had the same good fortune that I did, might share.

As suggested, these reflections echo from a now-distant time, because, unfortunately, my wife, Virginia, and I have not had an opportunity to visit much with the Drennens in recent years.

However, these expressions are nonetheless deep felt, and, I believe, accurate, because of the strong impression that Judge Drennen left on those of us who spent time working with him.

We have heard an awful lot and will hear more about the many professional accomplishments, as well as the admirable personal qualities associated with Judge Drennen.

He had a distinguished tenure as Chief Judge, during which time he obviously made a very substantial contribution to the planning and the construction of this fine building.

He also had many interesting and noteworthy opinions. He had a model demeanor as a judge, and he was a tenacious jurist.

He enjoyed the respect and the affection of those who worked with him during his long tenure here at the Court. He was an impressive athlete and had a great sense of humor. He had a patient and easy manner that projected warmth and respect.

Further, he had an admirable practical outlook that was effective in consensus-building and just getting things done. He was also a bit of a character, and if time permitted, it would be easy and enjoyable for me to entertain everyone here, recounting numerous unique experiences that he and I shared.

Now, most of us who clerked with Judge Drennen no doubt saw him as our first professional mentor. He served us well in that role, teaching primarily by example.

With his diverse experiences as a lawyer and as an active individual, Judge Drennen had a good bit that he could pass on to us, if we paid attention.

He also helped us to get jobs, and he counseled us on the stresses and strains of the practice of law. Judge Drennen and his gracious wife, Maggie, also made his young clerks welcome when they were serving him as attorney-advisors.

In has later years at the Tax Court, Judge Drennen and Maggie held reunion dinners for us, and they were always interested in how we were doing. Both he and Maggie also knew our families, and they cared about them as well.

In turn, we clerks were always eager to share any information or news about the Drennens whenever our trails crossed. One thing was certain: Once having worked for Judge Drennen, one did not forget him.

In serving as law clerks, we were all quite fortunate to spend an important and formative part of our professional careers with Judge Drennen. He became our lifelong friend and a teacher, and we will miss him. Thank you.

CHIEF JUDGE WELLS: Thank you, Brook. Now we will hear from Judge Drennen's sons, Bill and David Drennen. The first to speak will be Bill Drennen. Bill.

MR. WILLIAM M. DRENNEN, JR.: Thank you, Chief Judge Wells. I'm glad to have had a lawyer up here first to teach me the protocol of how you appear before the United States

Tax Court, particularly this being the 12th of April and feeling a little nervous about how my tax return is eventually going to turn out.

[Laughter.]

MR. WILLIAM M. DRENNEN, JR.: But I do appreciate the opportunity to address and express my appreciation to the people who are here, and particularly to the Judges for the comments that have been made about my father.

It's a difficult and humbling experience to hear all the kinds of things that he has done in his life. I have known him in many different forms, but I have never seen him appear as a Judge, and I had never heard people talk about his performance as a Judge. I had known some of the things that he had done, of course, but to hear them from the Tax Court itself simply gives a very strong feeling that this is a man that I'm even more proud of than I was when I started thinking about what I would say today, which happened when mom said: "You are going to say something today, aren't you?"

[Laughter.]

MR. WILLIAM M. DRENNEN, JR.: He was a character. I appreciate the reference to some of the good times that you have had and could have had with him as a clerk. We were looking through some pictures at my mother's house this morning, and there he is in his bow tie and his cheerleader shoes.

I don't know if you all on the Bench saw him in his cheerleader shoes, but he liked to wear saddle oxfords, and I always thought of them as cheerleader shoes. But he was a character. This was one of the things that marked his sense of humor and sense of playfulness, that you really had to look carefully for under the demeanor of the Judge, because he was always known as the Judge, I mean, long before he was a Judge.

[Laughter.]

MR. WILLIAM M. DRENNEN, JR.: He was known as the Judge. And that sense of character and that sense of having a little bit of a tease in a number of the things that he did, can be difficult on a child.

[Laughter.]

MR. WILLIAM M. DRENNEN, JR.: When are you ever going to catch up? When am I ever going to get to the point of being able to tease him back enough to even the score?

And I am glad that I never felt that that was a necessity. I also never beat him at chess. I never beat him at hearts. I almost beat him once at tennis, but not quite.

He won the first set quite handily, I eked out a victory in the second set, and then I was too tired to play anymore. [Laughter.]

MR. WILLIAM M. DRENNEN, JR.: And he was ready to go on. But it was a special life, living with the Judge, because of the kind of integrity and strength that he brought to every relationship, and to watch him interact in a community of professionals, and interact with a social circle, always with the greatest respect from the people around him, created a model for me that will continue throughout my life. I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to know him as well as I did.

CHIEF JUDGE WELLS: Thank you, Bill. We'll now hear from David Drennen.

MR. DAVID DRENNEN: Chief Judge Wells, friends of dad's, colleagues of dad's, my second year in law school, I took a course in basic tax, which you can imagine was interesting. The professor was also a practicing C.P.A., and he had apparently had cases before the Tax Court.

I gathered that he had recently had a case before the Tax Court that didn't come out the way that he wanted, because for the first several weeks of class, he ranted about the unfairness of the Court, how it felt to appear before the Court in the IRS building, et cetera, the normal complaints at that time.

As a practice in law school, I used to sit in the front row of the classroom, and I used to tape the lectures so that I could listen to the professor instead of worrying about taking notes.

The professor didn't call on me for the first 3 weeks to participate in class, and finally he called on me and pulled out the card and said: “Mr. Drennen," he said, "oh, by the way, are you related to Judge Drennen?" I said: "Yes, sir, he's my father." I have never seen a professor's face go from red to white to red quite so quickly.

[Laughter.]