Richard B. Charny, 57, lawyer

K.C. Isdaner was 7 when he met 10-year-old Richard B. Charny at a summer camp in the Poconos named Pine Forest.

They had been friends ever since. Isdaner is a real estate developer in Mount Laurel, and Mr. Charny was a lawyer there.

"Rick had some of his finest moments and glory days at Pine Forest," Isdaner said, because each summer into his college years, Mr. Charny returned as a camper, then a counselor, then a division head.

Through his youth and career, Isdaner said, Mr. Charny "had excellent leadership qualities. He was always prepared and organized, and had a real positive impact on the people around him."

On Tuesday, April 21, Mr. Charny, 57, of Cherry Hill, who in 1999 with his wife, Judith, established what is now the Mount Laurel family law firm Charny, Charny & Karpousis, died of salivary-gland cancer at home.

Mr. Charny was president of the Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill from 2005 to 2007, and had been a board member since 1999.

A member of Congregation Beth El in Voorhees, he was chairman at one time of the Community Center's summer camps in Medford.

He was a board member from 2006 to 2011 of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, which in 2006 gave him its Shellie Greenspun Young Leadership Award.

Mr. Charny was born in Victoria, Texas, and graduated from Abington High School in 1975. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh in 1979, and graduated from Temple University Law School in 1982, his wife said.

Mr. Charny worked for law firms in South Jersey before joining his wife in opening their firm in Cherry Hill, then moving it to Mount Laurel, his wife said.

For the New Jersey Supreme Court, Mr. Charny was a member from 2000 to 2003 of its District IV Ethics Committee.

In 2009, he founded the Business Development Alliance, a network for business and professional people in South Jersey.

He was a member of bar associations in Camden and Burlington Counties as well as of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Besides his wife, Mr. Charny is survived by his mother, Elaine; sons David, Jacob, and Adam; and two brothers.

A visitation was set for noon Thursday, April 23, at Platt Memorial Chapels, 2001 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill, before a 1 p.m. funeral service there, with interment in Crescent Memorial Park, Pennsauken.

Donations may be sent to www.bethelsnj.org or www.cancersupportphiladelphia.org.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.plattmemorial.com.