William Leo McLaughlin Jr.,

William Leo McLaughlin Jr., 69, of West Chester, a lawyer and lifelong sailor, died of a brain hemorrhage Saturday, March 26, while sailboat racing in Florida.

Mr. McLaughlin was competing in the Masters National Sunfish Championship in Jensen Beach when he was stricken, his family said. He died engaging in his favorite sport.

A competitive sailor from childhood, he was a member of the Marsh Creek Sailing Club. Joseph McLaughlin recalled being told by a Middlebury College classmate in 1962 that his cousin had "wiped out the competition in sailing races all summer on the East Coast."

"He was quite talented," said Mr. McLaughlin's wife, June Roberts McLaughlin. "He taught sailing in Cape May, he competed in the National Sunfish Championship in 1999 in Puerto Rico, and he sailed in Florida and Long Island."

The only child of William Leo and Nellie Vidunas McLaughlin, Mr. McLaughlin was born in Pittsburgh in 1947. In the 1950s, the family moved to Paoli, where his father started a law practice.

After graduating from Villanova University, Mr. McLaughlin pursued graduate study in geography at Pennsylvania State University. He was on the cusp of earning a master's degree when his thesis was stolen out of his car, his wife said. "That was back in the days of typewriters. It was his only copy."

His study of Pennsylvania's historic districts led him to seek a job with the Bureau for Historic Preservation, a division of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

He oversaw a statewide historic resource survey in the early 1980s. An amateur photographer, he developed an extensive collection of historic buildings, diners, and small-town scenes from Pennsylvania's past. "He did have a lot of fun doing that," his wife said.

Later, Mr. McLaughlin pursued a law degree at the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., now part of the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

He joined his father's law practice in 1986. When his father died in 1993, Mr. McLaughlin took over the firm. He was still practicing at the time of his death.

Mr. McLaughlin lived in West Chester with his wife. The two spent many happy times at their second home in Margate, N.J.

An active member of the community, he served on the West Chester Historic and Architectural Review Board. He also was a member and former chair of the Chester County Democratic Committee.

"Bill will be remembered for his sense of humor, zest for life, personal kindness, and compassion for the less fortunate," his cousin said in a tribute. He enjoyed the outdoors and walking with his wife and dog, Tucker, a Labrador-Airedale mix.

There were no other survivors.

A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at Milestone Events, 600 E. Market St., West Chester. Burial is private.

Donations may be made to the Upper Main Line Kiwanis Club, c/o of Mark Lezanic, Merrill Lynch, 724 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, Pa. 19087.

bcook@phillynews.com

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