Howard Kellogg, 102, Philly lawyer who loved hiking in the mountains

Howard Kellogg, 102, formerly of Bryn Mawr, a Philadelphia lawyer whose leisure-time passion was hiking, died Sept. 19 of old age at Foulkeways at Gwynedd.

Known as "Hal," Mr. Kellogg spent his entire career at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he focused on real estate law. When he joined Morgan Lewis in 1940, it was a fledgling firm with 24 lawyers. It now has a global presence.

Mr. Kellogg interrupted his law work for four years to serve with both the Army and Navy during World War II. After the war, he rejoined the firm. He was named partner in the 1950s and retired in 1978.

Born in Keokuk, Iowa, and reared in Boston and New York, he graduated from Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Mass., Harvard College in 1937, and Harvard Law School in 1940.

As a boy, Mr. Kellogg loved to climb in the Squam Range of New Hampshire with his pals. As a young man, he met his match in Frances Saunders Perkins, who was a member of the Alpine Club of Canada and loved hiking in the mountains as much as he did.

They married in December 1946 and reared five children in Bryn Mawr.

Within a week of his retirement, at the age of 63, Mr. Kellogg hit the trail at Springer Mountain, Ga., and finished hiking the nearly 2,200-mile-long Appalachian Trail five months later at Mount Katahdin, Maine.

"It was the one thing he wanted to accomplish," said his daughter Molly Kellogg. "He was a goal-setter."

At age 80, he climbed every 4,000-foot-high mountain in New England. He and his wife made many trips to the Canadian and American Rockies, the Alps, and the Himalayas.

In 1999, three generations of Kelloggs went on a wilderness trip to the Wind River Range in Wyoming, where the clan ascended to 11,120 feet at the Continental Divide. Mr. Kellogg continued to hike into his mid-90s.

Mr. Kellogg took each of his teenaged sons on a three-week hiking trip through the heart of the Swiss Alps.

David Kellogg, his youngest son, recalled: "This intense father-son experience opened my eyes to so many possibilities that have shaped my life. Our family's shared love of the mountains and hard physical effort is a lasting bond for all of us."

Mr. Kellogg was an active community volunteer, offering his services as a reader for what is now the Associated Services for the Blind & Visually Impaired, starting in 1978. He was assigned to Sebastian Demanop, a supervisor at the Pennsylvania Office for the Visually Handicapped.

The two men forged a lasting friendship and occasionally drank a highball together. "We clicked right away," Demanop said. "Hal was devoted to me and introduced me as his brother."  After Demanop retired, Mr. Kellogg continued to read to him until well into his 90s.

Mr. Kellogg served on the boards of Episcopal Community Services, Main Line Federation of Churches; Shipley School; W.B. Saunders Co.; Gladwyne Civic Association; Philadelphia International Visitors Council; Philadelphia Urban Finance Corp.; and Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble.

Among the numerous awards he received was the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations Human Rights Award in 1975.

He was a longtime blood donor, starting when he was doing military service. As of February 2002, he had donated 184 units of blood, according to the detailed notes that he kept.

"He was both an extremely respectful man who wanted to do the right thing, and a man who could go his own way and be unconventional when he needed to," daughter Molly said.

In addition to his wife, daughter, and son, Mr. Kellogg is survived by children Jane, Elizabeth, and Thomas; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 300 Pine St., Philadelphia. Burial will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to Episcopal Community Services via www.ecsphilly.org, Associated Services for the Blind & Visually Impaired via www.asb.org, or the Appalachian Trail Conservancy via www.appalachiantrail.org.