THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 78 | APRIL 2026 Daniel Daugherty Adams Jr. of Oklahoma City died Feb. 8. He was born Aug. 15, 1942, in Oklahoma City. Mr. Adams attended Linwood Elementary, Taft Middle School and Northwest Classen High School before continuing his education at Davidson College. At Davidson, he participated in ROTC for four years, played soccer and baseball and contributed cartoons to The Davidsonian. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1997. Mr. Adams served in the U.S. Army, with his initial post in the Military Intelligence Office in Omaha, Nebraska, which was cut short when he was promoted to captain and deployed to Vietnam as a counterintelligence advisor. He was awarded the Bronze Star. He served as vice president at Liberty National Bank; senior vice president, treasurer and board member at Mid-Continent Life Insurance Co.; and vice president and investment officer at American Fidelity Assurance Co. He was a member of the ABA, the American Council of Life Insurers and the Income Property Advisory Council of the Mortgage Bankers Association. He also served as chairman of the Life Co. Mortgage and Real Estate Council and the Westminster School Board of Trustees, among other positions. Michael Charles Bell of Norman died Dec. 30, 2025. He was born Dec. 5, 1966, in Pryor. Mr. Bell graduated from Pauls Valley High School in 1985 and earned a degree in agricultural economics from OSU in 1990, followed by his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1993. He practiced law for 32 years, focusing on the areas of workers’ compensation, Social Security disability and personal injury law. He was the owner of Michael C. Bell Law Firm in Norman and served as chairman of the Multiple Injury Trust Fund board. Mr. Bell was a member of the ABA, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, the Chickasaw Nation Bar Association and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives. Elizabeth Chronos of Tulsa died Jan. 21. She was born Dec. 4, 1947, in Okmulgee. She attended Okmulgee High School, where she was the head cheerleader and named homecoming queen. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin in 1970 and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Ms. Chronos began her career as a legal book editor with Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co. in Rochester, New York. She went on to receive her J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1997. While in law school, she served as president of the Women’s Law Caucus and received American Jurisprudence awards in intellectual property, criminal law, Native American law and international law. Ms. Chronos practiced law in Tulsa for nearly 30 years. She was honored with the Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service by Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. James S. Colgan of Tulsa died Feb. 12. He was born Nov. 27, 1939, in Hutchinson, Kansas, and graduated from Duncan High School. Mr. Colgan began his career working as a delivery and stockroom clerk at State Federal Savings & Loan. He earned his bachelor’s degree and his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1969. His leadership led him to become president and director of State Federal Savings & Loan before becoming president of Oak Tree Federal Savings Bank. Mr. Colgan also served as the director of the Tulsa office for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was named National Field Office Director of the Year for his work in Oklahoma City following the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing. He was a member of several organizations, boards and committees, including the city of Tulsa’s first Audit Committee, Tulsa Habitat for Humanity (as chair of the board), the OBA (a proud 50-year member), Up With Trees and more. He also held roles on the State Advisory Group for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Downtown Housing Fund and the Economic Development Commission, among others. Brian Maurice Dell of Oklahoma City died Dec. 1, 2025. He was born June 6, 1941, in Oklahoma City and graduated from Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in 1959. Mr. Dell enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1961 and was assigned to the U.S. Army Language School in Monterey, California, to study Mandarin Chinese. He served in Okinawa, Japan, and at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, as a translator/ interpreter before his enlistment was up in 1964. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business from OCU and a master’s degree in accounting from OU. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law In Memoriam
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