While studying in the 1960s for his law degree at Emory University, Ray Trapnell got a supplementary education working in the Atlanta offices of the U.S. Department of Labor’s regional solicitor and of the National Labor Relations Board.
He put what he learned at both places to good use during the rest of his career as a specialist in labor law.
“Ray was a go-to guy at our firm, especially for his expertise regarding wage and hour law,” said Bill Earnest of Atlanta, like Mr. Trapnell a founding partner of what once was Elarbee, Thompson & Trapnell and is currently Elarbee, Thompson, Sapp & Wilson.
Mr. Earnest said Mr. Trapnell was always working on numerous matters and his desk exemplified that, with papers scattered all over it.
“Somehow,” Mr. Earnest added, “Ray managed to put his hand on the right piece of paper when he needed it.”
Mr. Trapnell represented the management side exclusively in labor cases. He was among the first attorneys to specialize in serving cable companies, such as Comcast. A native Floridian, he also numbered Florida Power and Tampa Electric Co. among his clients.
A former colleague at the Elarbee Thompson firm, Kirk McConnell of Brentwood, Tenn., said Mr. Trapnell was his first mentor after he finished law school and was a model for young lawyers to emulate, adding “Ray was everything an attorney ought to be.”
He said he was especially impressed with the professional manner in which Mr. Trapnell dealt with clients -- with dignity but with humor as well.
“Ray had terrific rapport with them,” he said. “He often communicated with them by speakerphone, so even if you were in the hallway outside his office, you could hear them laughing at his jokes.”
Advising clients was Mr. Trapnell’s strong suit, he said. “Ray knew black letter law, but he was also pragmatic and counseled his clients about the most sensible way to adhere to it.”
John Raymond Turner “Ray” Trapnell, 76, of Vinings died Dec. 20 at WellStar Kennestone Hospital of respiratory failure following a stroke. His memorial service is 11 a.m. Wednesday at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in his memory be made to the church in care of Carol DeCesare, who can be reached at cdecesare@trinityatlanta.org. H.M. Patterson & Son, Canton Hill, is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Trapnell was an antiques addict.
“Dad seemed to love everything that was old,” said his daughter, Jennifer Miller of Atlanta. “He never missed the annual Scott Antiques Fair on the Southside of Atlanta and usually was there all three days of each event. He got to know practically every regular attendee.”
She said he recently took her 11-year-old son, Chip, to an antiques show in Wilmington, N.C., and got him so enthused over the old typewriters, telephones and boat models they examined there that her son was eager to go back the next day.
“Often Dad went to shows just to look, not to buy,” she said. Not surprisingly, she added, one of his favorite television programs was “Antiques Roadshow.”
His taste in art, she said, was similarly traditional. He liked landscape paintings, more often than not with farm buildings depicted.
A longtime member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Mr. Trapnell and his wife frequently attended the “boat church” on Lake Burton on their own craft when they were spending weekends at their lake house there.
Survivors also include his wife of 45 years, Barbara Trapnell; two sons, Michael Trapnell of Marietta and Jeffrey Trapnell of Atlanta, and 10 grandchildren.
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