Alan MacPherson

Alan H. MacPherson, a partner in MacPherson Kwok Chen & Heid, passed away suddenly at his home in Laguna Beach on Dec. 8, at the age of 74.

Prior to founding MacPherson Kwok Chen & Heid LLP, MacPherson headed the patent group and served as chairman of Skjerven Morrill MacPherson LLP. Previous to this, he was patent counsel at Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp. in Silicon Valley and at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.

J. MacPherson was featured as a top patent lawyer in California Lawyer and Upside magazine.

Born Aug. 10, 1934 in Calais, Maine, MacPherson grew up in Maine and Vermont. He traveled west to attend Stanford University and study mechanical engineering. He arrived with just enough money to pay for his first term, but was awarded a full academic scholarship that he supplemented with work in the dormitory cafeterias and in summer as a miner in the gold and silver mines of Alaska and Idaho.

After graduating from Stanford in 1956, he earned a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and held technical positions at Space Technology Laboratories in Redondo Beach, Calif., Dynamic Analysis and Control Laboratory at M.I.T., and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Conn. He attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1964.

In addition to practicing law, MacPherson served on the board of the San Jose Symphony, Stevenson House, and Mid-Peninsula Citizens for Fair Housing. He was an enthusiastic amateur trumpet player, hiker, and cyclist.

MacPherson is survived by his wife Judith, son Stuart, daughter Sara, six grandchildren, six stepchildren, and 11 stepgrandchildren.

A memorial will be held at 4 p.m. at Stanford Memorial Church on Jan. 14. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Stanford University in memory of Alan H. MacPherson care of Gift Processing, P.O. Box 20466, Stanford, CA 94309.