Jack C. Bristoe, 94, attorney from Drexel Hill

Jack C. Briscoe, 94, of Drexel Hill, a longtime Philadelphia lawyer and a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, died Monday, Dec. 1, of heart failure at the Sunrise of Granite Run senior living home in Media.

Born in 1920 in Bradford, Pa., Mr. Briscoe was the son of an oil industry worker, Park H., and a homemaker, Gertrude.

Mr. Briscoe graduated from Bradford High School in 1937 before attending the University of Pennsylvania. To help pay for the cost of tuition, Mr. Briscoe worked as a locomotive fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad Seashore Line. He received a B.S. degree in economics in 1942.

Setting his sights on a legal career, Mr. Briscoe enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he earned his juris doctorate in 1948.

While on a train to Boston, Mr. Briscoe met his wife, Dorothy, a dietitian at Harvard. The two were married for over 60 years before her death in 2012.

During World War II, Mr. Briscoe served in the Army Air Corps as a radar specialist. After the war he returned to Philadelphia, where he began teaching law at Penn's Wharton School and School of Engineering.

When not teaching, Mr. Briscoe practiced law as an associate of Robert C. Duffy, the Philadelphia register of wills.

In 1960, he and Dennis E. Haggerty formed the Briscoe & Haggerty law firm.

Following several years of partnership, Mr. Briscoe became a sole practitioner, handling cases involving business, probate, and estate work, franchise law, civil law, and financial planning.

Briscoe & Associates L.L.P. had offices in Center City and Delaware County. He continued to practice law until his death.

Mr. Briscoe was a member of the city, state, and national bar associations and the Philadelphia Estate Planning Council, and served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He was named in numerous volumes of Who's Who in American Law.

Mr. Briscoe is survived by daughters Jaqueline and Joan, and three grandchildren.

A private memorial service will be at the Frank C. Videon Funeral Home in Broomall.

Donations may be made to Manoa Community Church, 153 N. Eagle Rd., Havertown, Pa. 19083; Faith Theological Seminary Inc., 529 Walker Ave., Baltimore, Md. 21212; or a charity of the donor's choice.