A. Evans Kephart, 102, former senator

A. Evans Kephart, 102, formerly of Haverford, a four-term Pennsylvania state senator and a lawyer who helped secure water rights for the City of Philadelphia, died Jan. 6 of heart failure at Dorsett Regional Care Facility in Spearfish, S.D., where he had lived since 2004.

In 1939, Mr. Kephart won a special election to the Senate for the Second District in Philadelphia. The legislature had decided that neither candidate had won the previous close election because the legality of each ballot could not be determined, and the candidates declined to run again. "I lucked out," Mr. Kephart told a reporter in 1994. Though a Republican, he won three more terms to the Senate from the primarily Democratic district.

After leaving the Senate in the 1950s, Mr. Kephart formed a law firm in Philadelphia with Harold Stassen, former governor of Minnesota and perennial presidential candidate.

In 1968, Mr. Kephart was appointed Pennsylvania court administrator. He established standards for the judiciary, including the publication of a manual of jury instructions and training sessions for court officials. He retired in 1973.

Early in his career, Mr. Kephart was a member of the law firm of Montgomery & McCracken in Philadelphia and was an assistant city solicitor. In 1932, he successfully represented Philadelphia in a case before the state Supreme Court. The court ruled that the city had the right to the use of water from the Schuylkill and its tributaries, including the Perkiomen Creek. The city had sued the Philadelphia Suburban Water Co., which wanted to divert water from the creek for its suburban clients.

Mr. Kephart grew up in Ebensburg, Pa., a mining town in Cambria County. His father, John, was a chief justice of the state Supreme Court, and his grandfather Alvin Evans was a U.S. representative. After earning a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, Mr. Kephart earned a law degree from Harvard University.

He and his first wife, Ruth Hill Kephart, had two daughters before divorcing. In 1948, he married Marie Kenny, with whom he had two sons. He and his wife spent summers at his family's ranch in West Yellowstone, Mont. Guests at the ranch, their son James said, included politicians and business leaders and "exceptional characters from all walks of life."

Mr. Kephart enjoyed golf and hunting. He was an expert fly fisherman and chess player and once played with international chess champion Boris Spassky, his son said.

For more than 70 years Mr. Kephart was a member of the Union League and the Philadelphia Country Club. He was a Mason.

In addition to his son, he is survived by son Samuel; daughters Susy Simpson and Kate Barnes; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Marie Kenny Kephart and Ruth Hill Kephart English died in 1992.

A memorial reception will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Ryan Hall, Episcopal Academy, 376 Latchs Lane, Merion, Pa. 19066.

Memorial donations may be made to Episcopal Academy.