By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Lawyer and community activist Robbie Lee Billingsley died Saturday, just days before a benefit her friends had arranged in her honor was to take place.

A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. this Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and West Ferry Street.

Billingsley, who died "peacefully" in her bed at age 61, led a cheerful two-year fight with ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

"Through all of her decline, she had this incredible good cheer about her," said friend Marilyn Hochfield, special counsel at Kavinoky Cook LLP. "She was one of the most cheerful (people), even when she was demonstrating against the war (in Iraq) or fighting on behalf of (clients)."

Barbra Kavanaugh, confidential law clerk to state Supreme Court justice Hon. John O'Donnell, seconded that Billingsley was "relentlessly cheerful."

"Even when she told me some sad stories, she still laughed. She had her share of hardships," Kavanaugh said. "She felt things deeply but was also able to move on."

Hochfield recalls that Billingsley contemplated suicide after her daughter, Katy, died at age 13 from myasthenia gravas in 1984. However, she was inspired by civil-rights lawyer Marion Hyman to go to law school.

"She said to her, ‘If you're killing yourself, why not go to law school?' So she did, and became a priceless advocate for those who needed help but couldn't afford it," Hochfield said.

Billingsley graduated from UB Law and was admitted to practice in 1989. She frequently appeared in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, from which she received a pro bono award this year, and also took assigned cases in criminal and family courts. She had maintained offices in the Ellicott Square Building since 1992.

Billingsley was a founding member of the Western New York Peace Center and a board member of Fillmore-Leroy Area Residents (FLARE).

"She always fought for the underdog, she always spoke ‘truth-to-power,' and yet she (almost) always tempered her advocacy with kindness and compassion, and frequently a huge smile," wrote Stephen Karnath, who ran FLARE in the 1980s.

Billingsley is survived by a son, Joshua Billingsley-Cooke; brothers Patrick Cooke and David, Mark and Daniel Cook.

Memorials should be made to Hospice Buffalo Inc. and ALS Association. Arrangements were by Erie County Cremation Service.

Contributions to the Billingsley family can be made via Holly Baum, Esq., 1410 Rand Building, 14 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203. Checks should be made payable to Joshua Billingsley-Cooke.