Michael William Laughlin
Sept. 5, 1938 - June 17, 2017
On June 17, Michael William Laughlin, co-founder of a prominent San Francisco workers compensation law firm, a Marin County resident and lifelong University of Notre Dame fan, passed away peacefully surrounded by his children.
Born on Sept. 5, 1938 in Wilmington, Delaware to Dorothy Ahern and Joseph Laughlin, Mike was raised in South Bend, Indiana. His father died when Mike was young. His mother raised him while working as the librarian for University of Notre Dame, which he attended on scholarship. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, he attended law school at the University of Indiana.
Mike soon moved to San Francisco where he lived on Union Street and enjoyed playing softball for the Bus Stop where his picture still hangs to this day. He worked for the law firm of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran and Arnold before breaking off in 1985 to form his own workers compensation firm with several partners. They founded the firm of Laughlin, Falbo, Levy and Moresi.
Mike lost his first wife Miriam McCracken to cancer in 1976 and raised four children. It’s a testament to the man that all of his children are flourishing and continue to live not far from him. He is survived by daughters Erin (Dave) Devincenzi, Kathleen (Jeff) Archer, Megan (Kevin) Young and Jill Souza (Moss). He is also survived by his son Joseph (Cheryl McBride). Mike was fortunate enough to find a second love of his life and married Jeanne Pearson (Laughlin) in 1992, who predeceased him in 2008. Mike is also survived by 13 grandchildren and hundreds of adoring nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and community members.
Although Mike was a successful attorney, helping to build the largest workers compensation firm in the country, he never lost his perspective and always put his children first. At work, he would treat a staff member or associate the same as he would treat a senior partner.
Mike was a member of the Board of Directors for the Timothy Murphy School in San Rafael and tutored children at Venetia Valley Elementary School. He was a member of St. Isabella’s Parish where he enjoyed going to mass several times a week.
He was a member of the Marin Country Club and often took trips with friends to Lake Tahoe, Palm Springs and Arizona to play golf and engage friends in a game of dice. He also enjoyed word games and was the selfproclaimed family champion in Boggle. A highlight of the last few years was a long-planned trip he took to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon with his son, nephew and son-in-law.
He reveled in his children’s and grandchildren’s accomplishments, and his retirement was all about family, whether he was taking everyone away for a week at Glen Ellen or having Sunday barbecues at his house. He also attended as many of his grandchildren’s sporting events as he could. He will be deeply missed by all those who loved him, and his passing will leave a hole in the community.
The family will celebrate Mike’s life with a rosary on Thursday, June 22 at 7 p.m. at St. Isabella’s Church, One Trinity Way, in San Rafael. A funeral mass will be held on Friday, June 23 at 12:30 p.m. at St. Isabella’s followed by a celebration of life to be held at StoneTree Golf Club, 9 StoneTree Lane in Novato, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Timothy Murphy School, 1 St. Vincent Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903.