John Douglas Gould

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Gould, John Douglas John Gould, patent attorney and touchstone in the legal community for 60 years, a loving family man and Episcopalian, died on May 13th, at the Episcopal Church Home in St. Paul. He passed away peacefully, with family by his side, after a long struggle brought on by strokes and a blood ailment. The book of Ecclesiastes, gives this advice : "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength." John Gould embodied this maxim. With him there were no half-measures : whether it was caring for his large extended family, shepherding colleagues at the law firm Merchant and Gould, or volunteering long hours for St. Paul's and then St. Stephen's Church, Gould was always wholeheartedly and profoundly there. Gracious, friendly, and kind, this hard-working attorney utterly contradicted the stereotype of the callous lawyer. Many Minnesotans will testify to Gould's personal aid in times of trouble. Moreover, he was a role model in his field. There is a snapshot in the family album, of a weary but composed Mr. Gould, standing by a pool of water with the Taj Mahal in the background. Gould had been invited by the Indian government to give a lecture tour through several cities on American patent law. The invitation came after his firm's successful litigation on India's behalf of two cases in which American companies had attempted to patent such staples of Indian culture as turmeric and basmati rice. John Gould beside the Taj Mahal seems fitting : both man and building stood for the aspiration toward perfection. Something of that quality seemed to shine from John Gould : an ingrained probity united with endless good will, leavened with a sense of humor. (Gould would tell little anecdotes that had been passed down in the family for two hundred years, like the one about the New Hampshire Gould, out plowing on horseback, whose horse throws him to the ground. His daughter runs up and says, 'Dad, how do you feel?' Dad replies, 'Well, not as good as I did before I fell off.') John Gould was born in Minneapolis on April 12, 1927, the twin brother of sister Mary, and youngest of three sons (Edward, George, and John) of Edward S. and Florence Ainsworth Gould. The Goulds were an old Southeast Minneapolis family who had lived near the University and the Mississippi many years. Gould enjoyed what he himself described as a "rather idyllic" childhood; the family stayed all summer at Hunky Dory Farm in Wisconsin, while his father commuted to work as City Assessor of Minneapolis. Gould was in school at Marshall High during the Second World War. After graduating as valedictorian in 1945, he enlisted in the Navy and served 13 months as a radio technician; he was still in training when the war ended. He then studied electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota, receiving a Bachelors of Physics in 1950; this training would stand him in good stead for the technicalities of patent law. He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1953; in 2013, he was the recipient of the Minnesota Law Review's Distinguished Alumni Award, in recognition of 60 years of outstanding legal achievement. Gould was hired after graduation as the first law clerk at the new Honeywell Corporation. On April Fool's Day, 1954, he started with a small family firm, recruited by Ralph Merchant (of Merchant & Merchant). He remained there for the next six decades, serving as managing partner, president and board chair. He maintained a busy schedule of long hours, 6-day weeks, and much business travel, in the demanding field of patent litigation. At the same time he was growing what came to be Merchant and Gould, through a policy of hiring only the best lawyers, and fostering a work environment of trust. Not an easy accomplishment in a profession full of large egos and simmering rivalries! Yet over time Merchant and Gould has been recognized as "a good place to work", where lawyers are happy to stay and flourish. As partners have acknowledged, this record has been due in large part to the standards set by Gould himself. Merchant and Gould has become a firm with over 100 lawyers, with offices around the country. Gould represented a number of start-up Minnesota corporations, including 3M, Honeywell, and Medtronic; but his memoir is also filled with anecdotes of trials representing inventors and companies of all shapes and sizes. He was a Midwestern attorney working full-throttle at the center of a dynamic era of American invention. Alongside his litigation work, Gould was registered on the Rule 114 roster of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice as a mediator and arbitrator; serving as an arbitrator and court-appointed mediator in several matters. In 2000, Gould received the Professionalism Award from the Hennepin County Bar Association. He served as president of the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association in 1997-98. He was a frequent guest lecturer at law schools, and served as judge in moot court competitions. It must also be noted that beneath John Gould's mild manner was a man of iron fortitude, with a passion for winning - necessary attributes for the avid poker player he was (in his very infrequent off-hours from work). Meantime, young Gould had periodically crossed paths with a member of another Southeast family : Mary Ravlin. They attended Marshall High together, but it was not until 1950, when Mary and John happened to meet one day in Ivey's Soda Shop, that they began to see more in each other. Mary left for a job in Manhattan, but John successfully argued his first and most important case in convincing Mary to return to Minneapolis and get married, which they did on March 27, 1951. The bond proved loving and lasting. Mary and John were an inseparable team for 64 years, raising five children, and deeply involved in the lives of their grandchildren. Gould's mother Florence led her family to St. Paul's Church in Minneapolis, where John and siblings were baptized. There he served his church with the same wholehearted enthusiasm with which he turned the small family firm of Merchant and Merchant into one of the largest and most prestigious patent law firms in the nation. Eventually he served as Senior Warden at St. Paul's, and then as longtime Treasurer at St. Stephen's Church in Edina. He also did work at the House of Prayer, and was steadily involved in many projects of these active congregations. In a letter sent to his sons, published in his memoir (Legal War Stories, ©2010), Gould emphasized the faith which undergirded his approach to life : a basic gratitude, a commitment to love and care for others. In a passage in Legal War Stories, Gould praised a certain judge as "a straight arrow" : the phrase captures the essence of the man himself. At the end of life, John was too weak to talk. Yet his mind was still lucid, his sense of humor intact. So he developed a kind of sign language, the centerpiece of which was a firm, oft-extended handshake, given to Mary, his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and longtime friends. On his last day on earth, he developed a new sign : he would point up toward the ceiling, and slowly inscribe a circle. It seemed he was telling us he was leaving soon. He was going to join that greater circle of light on high, in which he had already for so long played a glowing part. John Gould is survived by his wife, Mary Ravlin Gould; his daughter Cara Holmberg (David); four sons, Henry (Sarah); James (Barbara); William (Grizelle); and Michael (Noralva); ten grandchildren - Alexander, Amanda, Ben, Iñigo, Joseph, Julia, Molli, Monica, Nina (Will), and Phoebe (Khaled); and one great-grandchild, Sophie. A memorial service will be held Thursday, May 28th, at 11 a.m., at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 4439 West 50th St., Edina, MN 55424, reception immediately following. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to : The St. Stephen's Fund c/o St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 4439 West 50th St., Edina, MN 55424. Washburn-McReavy.com Edina Chapel 952-920-3996

Published on May 17, 2015