Joel L. Selig

He was the devoted father of son William Osterweis Selig and daughter Deborah Selig Zavracky, and loving grandfather of Levi and Yali Selig, and Vivian and Beatrice Zavracky.

Born in Boston to William and Ruth (Berger) Selig in 1944, where his family had belonged to Temple Israel for four generations. Joel graduated from Newton (Mass.) high school and earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard College (’65) and a law degree from Harvard Law School (’68). Working for 15 years as a civil rights litigator, primarily at the U.S. Department of Justice, Joel specialized in cases involving employment, housing discrimination, and school desegregation,in federal district courts, federal court of appeals and the US Supreme Court. Following this time, Joel enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a beloved Professor of Law at the University of Wyoming's College of Law, teaching courses in civil procedure, conflicts of law and evidence. Apart from the law, his greatest passion was opera, in addition to enjoying the great outdoors and hiking in Maine and Wyoming. He took great pleasure and pride from the time spent with his children and grandchildren.

Graveside services will be held on Thursday, June 2 at 1:45 PM, at Sharon Memorial Park, 40 Dedham Street, Sharon.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Joel’s memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation at michaeljfox.org, NAACP at naacp.org, or the University of Wyoming College of Law at uwyo.edu/foundation/ways-to-give