Kenneth James Burchfiel Jr.

Kenneth James Burchfiel Jr. of Santa Fe passed away peacefully on July 22 with his wife Linda, children Nellie and Ken, and sisters Penney and Kay with him at home. He was 67 years old, and the cause of death was bile duct cancer. He loved the legal profession, and in addition to his 32-year career as a patent lawyer at Sughrue Mion in both Washington, DC and Tokyo, he wrote a law textbook, Biotechnology and the Federal Circuit, and took a sabbatical year to study ancient Greek legal thought at the Max Planck Institute in Munich. Yet Kenneth insisted that life should come before work. He made time to be an involved, loving father and husband, and to take fly-fishing trips, Vanagon camping trips, and ski trips with his family. An avid landscape photographer, he frequently traveled to Southern Utah and Arizona with his medium-format camera. Kenneth retired to Santa Fe in 2017 with his wife, and delighted in the neighborhood camaraderie, the mountains, the opera, and the James Joyce Group at St. John’s College. A Celebration of Kenneth’s Life was held at his home July 27 for close friends and family. He left us far too soon and will be sorely missed by family and friends. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (https://suwa.org/ ) would be greatly appreciated. A photo album and memorial website with further details is available at https://www.qeepr.com/profile/KennethJamesBurchfiel/ . Condolences may be posted there as well.