Draft:Bernard Preston Friel



 

BERNARD PRESTON FRIEL

Birth name: Bernard Preston Friel

Birth date: August 23, 1930

Place: St. Paul, Minnesota

Mendota Heights, Minnesota

Nationality: United States

Other Names: Bernie Friel

Citizenship: United States

Education: University of Minnesota

Occupation: Lawyer, adventurer, photographer

Known for: Leadership, organizational skills, and persistence

Notable work: Principal Founder National Association of Bond Lawyers, Nature Photography, Organization/Leadership of Adventure Travel Trips

Board Member: Science Museum of Minnesota, National Association of Bond Lawyers, Minnesota Heart Association, HealthEast Foundation, St. Paul and Minnesota Associations for Retarded Children, School Board 197, West St. Paul-Mendota Hts., Voyager Outward Bound School, North American Nature Photography Association, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

Spouse: Damaris (nee Hofer) Friel

Children: Kimberly C. Friel (1955–2019)

Deirdre Rains (1958)

Kevin S. Friel (1960)

Website:  http://www.wampy.com/ 

Biography

Early Life

Bernard Preston Friel was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, August 23, 1930, to Janice Virginia (née Countryman; 1909–1966) and Bernard Emmett Friel (1905-1975). Friel attended K-12 in St. Paul, Public Schools, K-8 at James J. Hill Grade School, and Grades 9–12 at Central High School where he lettered in football, hockey, track, and cross-country and served as sophomore class president, treasurer, and president of the Student Council, art editor of the school paper and from which he graduated in 1948.

The eldest of three children, Friel grew up in a middle-class home on Selby Avenue that was also the residence of his parents and maternal grandparents and his siblings, James (1932) and Sandra (1937–2007).

In 1943, at the age of 13, knowing he would need to provide the funds for his college education, he commenced employment as a stock boy and clerk in a small retail business and remained employed there until his graduation from law school in 1954. He also worked summers as a cook and dishwasher in the dining cars of the Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited (1946) and the Great Northern Empire Builder 1947–53 and as a stevedore for Glendenning Motor Company. In the summer of 1948, he worked as a compass man on a timber cruising crew for Northern Pacific Railroad in Washington, Idaho, and Montana, igniting his affection for the outdoors and wilderness.

College And Law School Years

Friel entered the University of Minnesota in the fall of 1948 in the Institute of Technology in chemical engineering and graduated from its law school in 1954. He was a member of Gamma Eta Gamma professional legal fraternity, Chi Psi academic fraternity, the Phoenix Honor Society, Grey Friar’s Honor Society, and the Minnesota Chapter of Kappa Beta Phi. Friel served on the University’s Freshman Cabinet, its All-U Congress, as Chairman of Its 1950 Welcome Week, and as a member of the Interfraternity Council. He was awarded the Ski-U-Mah award for his leadership in student government.

Marriage and Children

At the University of Minnesota, Friel met Damaris Hofer. They married on January 26, 1955, while he was serving in the U.S. Air Force. An alumnus of the University of Minnesota and a professional tap and ballet dancer late into her sixties, Damaris also performed in civic opera in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and was a graphic artist.

Children

Kimberly C. Friel (1955–2019)

Deirdre Rains (1958)

Kevin S. Friel (1960)

Military Service

Upon graduation from law school, Friel, who had received a Commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force through the ROTC program in 1954, reported for active duty in July 1954 at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. He served as a staff judge advocate (JAG) assigned to the 405th Fighter, Bomber Wing. During two years active duty he was promoted to first lieutenant. Having attended the Air Force Legal School at Maxwell Air Forces Base, he returned to Langley and worked in defense and prosecution in special and general court’s martial, representation of personnel in military board proceedings, was the Langley Base Claims Officer, and served as legal advisor to military personnel on personal matters. He was admitted to practice in Minnesota in October 1954.

Early Professional Life

In 1956, Friel joined Briggs, Gilbert, Morton, Kyle and McCartney, which merged with Morgan, Raudenbush, Morgan, Oehler and Davis in 1960 and became Briggs and Morgan P.A. (merged with Taft Law in January 1, 2020). Friel practiced with the firm from 1956 to 2014 as an associate, then partner shareholder and of counsel, with the exception of a five-year period when he served as vice chairman and general counsel for the firm’s client Hemar Corporation.

Friel was admitted to practice in all Minnesota State and federal courts, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. Friel was a member of the Ramsey County and Minnesota Bar Associations, Minnesota and American Trial Lawyer’s Associations, and is a life member of the American Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Most of Friel’s early practice was in general litigation and municipal law with an increasing part of his practice in the municipal bond field. His litigation experience involved personal injury cases, family law, criminal matters, medical malpractice defense, and real estate, tax, and probate matters.

He served as city attorney for Prior Lake and Falcon Heights, Minnesota, was bond counsel to the St. Paul Port Authority, The Seaway Port Authority of Duluth, and many municipalities, and was instrumental in revising the State of Minnesota Industrial Revenue Bond legislation so it provided authorization for commercial as well as industrial facilities.

Lifestyle Correction

In 1969, Friel experienced a heart attack; bypass surgery was not yet available and open-heart surgery was considered too great a risk. He undertook a major shift in lifestyle, quitting smoking, making significant dietary changes, and adopting a regular exercise program which proved effective. Within a year he began running several miles each day and soon completed the first of several marathons as well as many 10K, and ten-mile races. For over twenty years his daily weekday schedule included an eight-mile run over the noon hour every workday of the year.

Later Professional Life

During the years immediately following his heart attack, Minnesota’s laws were amended permitting an expansion in the use of industrial revenue bond financing, a practice area in which only a few lawyers, including Friel, were experienced. In 1971 he organized and became the Chair of the firm’s Public Finance Department, and from 1973 to 1985, his practice was exclusively in the municipal bond area, where he served as both bond counsel and underwriter's counsel. During those years he was periodically engaged by the Revisor of Statutes for the State of Minnesota, to draft legislation for the Minnesota legislature. He also served as advisor to the Minnesota Municipal Finance Council, and bond counsel to scores of Minnesota municipalities and counties and the State of Minnesota. As bond counsel to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, an agency of the State of Minnesota he structured the first revenue bond to provide state revenue bond financing for student loans for higher education. He served as member and chairman of the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority through which tax-exempt financing was available to Minnesota private colleges and universities for capital improvements.

Friel co-authored the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Law (Chapter 458 D Minnesota Statutes) which established the sanitary sewer district for the Duluth-Cloquet area. Friel also worked with the State of Washington in organizing that state’s student loan program under the U.S. Guaranteed Student Loan Program. During 1975–1980 he served on his law firm’s board of directors.

Friel assisted in establishing the first municipal bond attorney’s workshop organized and taught by municipal bond lawyers in 1976 and was the principal founder and first president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) ​as a consequence of his persistent efforts in 1978. The workshop is now conducted by NABL which has a membership of over 2,500.

Friel joined the Hemar Corporation in February 1985 as vice chairman and general counsel where he also served as a vice president and general counsel of each of the several related corporations in the group all serving various functions in the Federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program, a program designed to provide better access to ​post-secondary​​ education.

Friel rejoined the Briggs firm in 1990 where he continued working with the Hemar group dismantling and repurposing the corporations in the group following the government's withdrawal​​ and reorganization of its student lending program. Friel retired from active practice in 2001​​ and continued as Of ​Counsel at the firm until he gave up his license to practice in 2014, completing sixty years as a practicing lawyer.

Photography

Friel has been a serious nature photographer since his mid-thirties and embarked upon a professional career under the business name “a different perspective” [Link: www.wampy.com] shortly after his retirement from his law firm in 2001. Since 2002, he has been represented ​by professional stock agencies​ which provide worldwide marketing of his photographic images.

Community Service

Friel’s first child Kimberly (1955–2019) was born with tuberous sclerosis, a seriously disabling mental disorder. In response to this circumstance, Friel and his wife Damaris became active in organizations, providing assistance and services to those affected with this and similar conditions. Friel served on the board and as president of the St. Paul Association for Retarded Children, the board of the Minnesota Association for Retarded Children  (MnARC) and on the advisory committee to the Faribault State Hospital. He served on the board of MnARC when it established Camp Friendship a summer camp for the mentally disabled and their families, now a year-round facility serving that disabled community under the name True Friends. In 1964–65, Friel and ​his ​wife​ Damaris persuaded their public school district to establish classes for the mentally disabled that their daughter attended. The district continues to provide such classes today.

Published Works

Articles

"The Model Registered Public Obligations Act: A Brief History," ''16 Urb. Law. No. 1'' (Winter 1984) co-written with Michael McEllistrem.

"Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Law," Co-Author​ ​​   ​with Peter Seed (1971) Chapter 458 D Minnesota Statutes.

Scientific article on hi-speed flash photography published in issue 3, 2004 of The Picture Professional, the magazine of The American Association of Picture Professionals.

“Growing up in Saint Paul”, published in Ramsey County History the quarterly magazine of the Ramsey County Historical Society, Spring 2008, Volume 43, Number 1.

“Irish Eyes are Smiling,” a short article published in Law and Politics in 2009 regarding his brief encounter with the Irish playwright Brian Friel with whom he shares the same given name, Bernard P. Friel except that Brian’s middle name is Patrick and Bernard’s Preston. [citation needed]

Photographic Work

Friel’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, calendars, books, TV, and all ​varieties​ of social media over the last five decades including among many others, airline magazines, Birder’s World, Audubon, The Picture Professional, National Wildlife, Photo District News, National Geographic Books, Best of America Photography Volume II, Art of Seeing, ''Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portrait of the Twin Cities, Outdoor Photographers​, The American Landscape, and the Expressions and Currents'' publications of the North American Nature Photography Association. Friel assumed a leadership role of the North American Nature Photography Association as president and was a spokesperson for the importance of the preservation of our natural resources on programs including American Public Broadcasting series "Sound Off with Sacha."

His images have been used in numerous websites and brochures including those of The North American Nature Photography Association; the Pool & Yacht Club of Lilydale, Minnesota; and Siesta Dunes Beach Condominiums, Sarasota, Florida, the Minnesota Club, and Outward Bound International; as well as in multiple media uses throughout the world.

Published Film and Video

●     Touring America’s National Parks, Encounter Video Inc., 1986, available on tape or DVD in National Park Visitor Centers.

●     DVD 1999 Grand Canyon raft trip], National Park Service Visitor Center, Science Museum of Minnesota.

Motivational Speaking

Following receipt of the American Heart ​Association “Heart Hero” award in 2007, Friel became a part of the association speakers’ bureau. In that capacity​,​ he has appeared before numerous organizations to explain his recovery from a serious heart attack at age 38. To illustrate his presentations, he selected images and video clips from his post coronary adventure travel. Friel has made many presentations about his adventure travel in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, his search for Anasazi petroglyphs and pictographs in the Southwest, travel in the Galapagos Islands, the McNeil River Sanctuary​,​ and Kodiak Island in Alaska, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Park Canoe Area, an African safari, climb of Kilimanjaro, an MIA Expedition to Papua New Guinea, and rafting trips down both Cataract and the Grand Canyon. Presentations have been made to, among others, the Dodge Nature Center, The River Bluffs Village, The Minnesota Chapter of the Commemorative Air Force, Midwest Mountaineering Expositions, The Minnesota Nature Photography Club, Ramsey County Bar Association, Medtronic, St. Paul Rotary Club, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, and St. Catherines and Bethel University classes.

Friel was a featured guest in November 2008 on the National Public Radio Talk Show “Sound Off with Sasha” speaking about the necessity of protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from exploitation. He also had a guest appearance on Minnesota Public Television’s Almanac program on July 27, 2007 to speak about his participation in a 2007 MIA expedition to Papua New Guinea, and its successful location of four military aircraft lost there since WWII.

ADVENTURE TRAVEL

Canoeing: Since his first canoe trip in July of 1961, he has led over 40 trips to the Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Area of Minnesota and the adjacent Quetico Park Wilderness of Ontario, Canada. These were not commercial trips organized for a fee, but trips with friends who shared Friel’s love of the outdoors. For each trip,​ Friel did all the trip planning, routing, and logistics. This included planning and securing the food and supplies, establishing menus, and supplying or providing for most of the equipment, as well as transportation to and from the put-in site and advice to the participants on what to and what not to bring. Most of these trips involved four to six participants, but have involved as few as two (he did one solo trip) and as many as eight. The trips ranged from four to ten days, customarily covering 150–200 miles of canoeing and five to seven miles of portaging. He led his most recent​ ​​ ​trip with six participants for eight days in May of 2015 and ​canceled​​ plans for one in May 2020 because of COVID-19. In 1975, Friel was the trip photographer for an Outward Bound International promotional trip to this wilderness area.

The objective of these canoe trips was the enjoyment of the magnificent boreal forests and pristine lakes, and the superb fishing which provided the participants with ​freshly​ cooked walleye, pike, and sometimes a lake trout each evening without fail. Participants are also treated to the call of the loons, the howl of wolves, sunsets of unimaginable beauty, and occasionally, a moose or a black bear.

The extended period over which Friel led these trips (over 60 years) gave him the opportunity to study the ecological changes brought about by the increased use of this most used wilderness in the United States, as well as the impact the use has had on its campsites. Friel made use of this knowledge and information by supporting organizations dedicated to preserving its wilderness status and protecting its ecological diversity, including the Friends of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy on whose Boards he served.

Those canoeing endeavors provided him with the knowledge to educate many of those who, from time to time, participated in the trips he led. He used his trip photography and video in presentations, to help educate others about the “canoe country.”

Rafting:

In September 1976, Friel participated in his first raft trip down Cataract Canyon as the trip photographer for Outward Bound International (OBI). In the ensuing years​,​ he participated in or led thirteen more raft trips as well as one dory trip down the Grand Canyon.

In 1999 he led 16 people in 5 rafts for 18 days down the Grand Canyon. There were two trips down the Middle Fork of the Salmon (1981 and 1983), two down Cataract Canyon (1976 and 1977), and one each down the Spokane (1994), the Wenatchee (1984), the Green (1978), the Deschutes (1996), the main Salmon (1988), and the Hulahula in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in 2002.

The objective of the Cataract Canyon and Green River trips was to photograph OBI participants in some heroic effort—bouldering, rappelling, or rafting–-to inspire support for its programs. The education and training on those early trips provided the interest and incentives to undertake much of his later exploration. But the real highlights of his raft trips were the two trips he rowed a raft the length of the Grand Canyon from Lee’s Ferry to Diamond Creek, meeting the challenge of staying upright through the most challenging rapids in the U.S.

Backpacking and Hiking:

The OBI experience also piqued Friel’s interest in backpacking. In 1980, after doing research on the Yellowstone backcountry, he planned and executed a ten-day solo-backpacking trip down the Bechler River canyon, the first leg of which was ​cross-country​​​ from Shoshone Lake over the continental divide back to the Bechler trail. It was the first of many trips during the following years, all requiring self-sufficiency and skilled use of map and compass, GPS not yet being available.

He led or undertook several backpack trips throughout the Southwest and Northwest, including Canyonlands backcountry in the Needles area, the Arches, the Wonderland Trail of Mount Rainier, the backcountry of Denali, Olympic National Park, Haleakala Crater, the Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls on Maui, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from the Brooks mountains to the Arctic Ocean.

A chance meeting on an Alaskan ferryboat introduced Friel to Averill Thayer. Averill had been the first Director of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and subsequently mentored Friel about exploring there.

Friel spent a great deal of time studying the geography, ecology and wildlife of the ANWR before, during, and after his Arctic trips. He learned the importance of the coastal plain to the caribou as their calving area, and of its importance as a nesting area for millions of migratory waterfowl, some migrating from as far away as Antarctica. He used that information to support the continued protection of the ANWR. His work prompted his invitation to be a guest resource on the “Sound Off With Sasha” show.

Mountaineering  

In 1986, while hiking in Great Basin National Park, Friel successfully made a solo ascent of Wheeler Peak (13,001 feet). Other climbs followed, including​​ Mount Ellinor (5,952 feet), Mount Rainier (14,411 feet), Mount St. Helens (8,364 feet after eruption), Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet)​,​ and an unsuccessful attempt ​at​ Pico de Orizaba (18,491 feet).

Blue Water Sailing

Friel first set foot on a sailboat when he was invited by his kindergarten classmate and Explorers Club colleague Roger Swanson to be part of his crew on his ketch Cloud Nine for a ​month-long​ sail from Auckland, New Zealand to Fiji in April 1989. It was a challenging crossing during five days of typhoon Lili’s 40-foot seas and 25- to ​40-knot​ winds. Two more journeys followed with Friel as crew member for Swanson; these voyages included the Indian Ocean and the African Coast, and crossing the Channel to Normandy. Friel also sailed several trips as crew on Lake Michigan and Huron with his college friend Dr. ​Arndt Duvall III.

Anasazi Ruins and Petroglyphs

In the mid-1970s, Friel became interested in the Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs throughout the Southwest and has made approximately 30 trips to various areas photographing ruins throughout the region. His objective was to catalog these sites for scientific and illustrative purposes, and many are​ on his website.

Alaska, Kayaking, Hiking​,​ and Grizzly Bears

Friel made fifteen trips to Alaska since 1983. He has traveled solo, with family members, and with others. In 1992, he was a successful applicant in both the lottery for the McNeil Grizzly Bear Sanctuary and the Karluk Lake Sanctuary on Kodiak Island.

In 2004, he was lucky once again to be drawn in the McNeil lottery. During these trips, he has camped and kayaked, photographing grizzlies, ​and ​icebergs, and had an opportunity to study the effects of the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez while kayaking in Prince William Sound.

MIA Hunters

In 2006, through membership in the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), Friel learned about the MIA Hunters and their mission to help locate and recover military personnel lost during WWII. There were 74,000 military personnel still missing in action, a very high percentage of them in the South Pacific with a high concentration in the remote and impenetrable jungles of Papua New Guinea.

Friel volunteered to assist on one of several missions to New Guinea in the spring of 2007. Friel’s MIA group was led by native guides, who had contact with local tribes. Friel was the eldest member of the mission group assigned to locate WWII aircraft crash sites. Friel’s mission group located four aircraft, two Japanese and two American. Friel stayed in native villages while performing the mission. The crash site information provided to the joint POW-MIA Command of the United States was used to determine whether to undertake further investigation or recovery.

Hobbies and Leisure Activity

F​​​riel is engaged in​ several hobbies, depending ​upon the time of year: gardening and orchard​ keeping in​ spring to fall, and designing and building furniture and cabinetry for his home during winter and inclement weather. Chrysanthemums and dahlias are flower garden special​ties, but his pride-and-joy is his impressive vegetable garden.

Leisure time activities include cross-country and downhill skiing and Nastar ski racing.

Professional Associations

·      Briggs and Morgan, P.A. (1956–1985 and 1991–2014) (now Taft Law)

·      Co-chair Litigation Section (1964–66); Chair Public Finance Section (1972–81); Board of Directors (1975–80)

·      National Association of Bond Lawyers, Principal Founder, First President, Life Member

·      American College of Bond Counsel, Honorary Member

·      Ramsey County Bar Association,​ ​Ethics Committee

·      Minnesota State Bar Association, Media Committee

·      American Bar Association (ABA) Life Member

·      Council Member, Local Government Law Section, American Bar ​Association​​

·      Gamma Eta Gamma, Professional Legal Fraternity

·      American and Minnesota Trial Lawyers Associations

Business Organizations, Board of Directors

·      Hemar Corporation

·      Higher Education and Recreation Services Corporation

·      Hemar Service Corporation of America

·      HRS Education Services, Inc.

·      Center for the Advancement and Preservation of American Music, Inc.

·      Hemar Insurance Corporation of America

·      HELP USA, Inc.

·      HRS Properties, Inc., a different perspective, owner, professional photography organization

Governmental Organizations

·      Higher Education Facilities Authority of the State of Minnesota (1971–80); chair (1973–80)

·      School Board, ISD 197, W. St. Paul-Mendota Heights (1967–69)

·      City of Mendota Heights Planning Commission  (1991–2003)

·      Metropolitan Airport Sound Abatement Council (1985–1990)

Community Organizations

·      St. Paul Jaycees (1956–1966); Vice President, General Counsel, Chair, Fine Arts and Program Committees; Chair of St. Paul Open Pro-Am Tournament (1966)

·      St. Paul Athletic Club, Board of Directors (1975–78)

·      Voyager Outward Bound School, Board of Directors (1974–78)

·      Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (formerly Project Environment Foundation) (1980–84)

·      Thomas Irvine Dodge Nature Center, Board of Directors (1980–84)

·      Ramsey County Heart Association, Secretary (1971–80)

·      Minnesota Heart Association, Board of Directors, General Counsel (1975–82) Speaker’s Bureau (1999–2015)

·      St. Paul Association for Retarded Children, President (1957–64)

·      Minnesota Association for Retarded Children, Board of Directors (1961–64)

·      Twin Cities Marathon Organizing Committee (1982–84)

·      Science Museum of Minnesota, Board of Trustees and Finance Committee (1992–98), now Emeritus Trustee

·      St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Steering Committee (1996–2004)

·      Health East Foundation (aka M Health Fairview) Board of Directors and Finance Committee (2003–06)

·      North American Nature Photography Association, (NANPA) Charter Member, Treasurer (1996–97) President (2000), Board of Directors (1996-2002), Life Member

·      Infinity Foundation, supporting NANPA, Board of Directors (2000–05)

·      The Minnesota Club, President (1997) and Board of Directors (1992–99)

·      MIA Hunters, Inc., Board of Directors (2012–14)

Honors and Awards

·      Selected by Minnesota Jaycees as One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in Minnesota, 1965

·      Greater St. Paul United Way Community Service Award, 1964

·      Outstanding Service Award​​, North American Nature Photography ​Association, 2003

·      American Heart Association Heart Hero Award, 2007

·      St. Paul Central High School Hall of Fame, 1989

·      Bernard P. Friel Medal, created in 1982 in honor of Friel, who was its first recipient, to recognize outstanding contributions in the field of municipal finance.

·      The Explorers Club, 2010