OBITUARY

Joel Douglas Eaton, beloved father, grandfather, brother, uncle, partner, mentor, and friend, left us on January 3, 2024, after a battle with cancer. He was 80 years old. He passed away in his home, surrounded by his three loving sons. 

Joel was born on October 31, 1943 in Miami, Florida, to parents Joe and Pat Eaton.  Joel wouldn’t meet his father until 1945, when he returned from his campaign as a bomber pilot in the European theater.  Their family soon added younger sisters Janet and Julie. 

Unsurprisingly to those who know him, Joel was a precocious child, reading at age 2, and assembling a transistor radio at age 3. Joel attended Coral Gables High School, where he was an academic standout. He was one of two Floridian boys selected to attend Boy’s Nation, won the Miami Herald’s Silver Knight award for Social Sciences, and graduated at the top of his class. He was also a standout football player, once catching 3 touchdown passes in a game against Coral Park.  His overall excellence opened the door to Yale University.

He was able to attend Yale by promising to serve four years in the U.S. Navy upon his graduation in 1965. His flight training took him to Pensacola Florida. While in Pensacola, he met the love of his life, a beautiful blond dental hygienist named Mary Benson who had also gone to Gables High. Joel swept her off her feet by taking her flying on their second date. They were married on June 24, 1967, but had to delay their honeymoon as Joel was being deployed to Vietnam.  They were finally able to go on a honeymoon to Hong Kong during Joel’s first combat tour. 

 

Joel flew the A-7 Corsair, a single engine bomber off of the USS Coral Sea and the USS America. All told, during his two tours of combat, Joel flew 150 combat missions over Vietnam and Laos. In 1971, after six years of service, Joel left the Navy as a Lieutenant, and took a job in Dallas, testing airplanes for Vought, the manufacturer of the A-7.   One year in Texas was enough to convince Joel to move on to the next stage of his life, so he followed in the footsteps of his father and applied to law school.  In the fall of 1972, Joel began his studies at Harvard Law School and welcomed his first son, Douglas, who was born on Joel’s 29th birthday.  After Joel graduated in 1975, the young couple returned to their native Miami to begin their lives as parents.  Douglas was joined by his brothers Darryl in 1976 and David in 1979. 

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Joel immediately joined the prestigious Podhurst Orseck firm, where he spent his entire legal career.  At the beginning of his career, Joel worked under the firm’s appellate attorney, Bobby Orseck.  When Bobby tragically passed away in 1978, Joel took over the firm’s appellate practice.  Over his storied career, he handled more than a thousand appeals, appearing regularly before the Florida Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and three times before the U.S. Supreme Court.  Joel co-founded the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, served two terms as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for civil cases, and chaired the Florida Bar's Appellate Court Rules Committee.  He was repeatedly recognized by various publications as one of the best lawyers in America. 

 

Joel incorporated his love for flying into his career. From the early 1980’s until he hung up his wings in 2022, Joel flew his single engine airplane to his oral arguments around the state of Florida.  He would happily drop what he was doing to ferry his partners, and later his son Doug, around the state to their work obligations.  He would also fly his family back and forth to their beloved summer home on Beech Mountain in North Carolina.  Later in life, Joel turned his garage into a woodworking studio, where he produced beautiful pieces of furniture and art.  Joel and Mary were devoted fans of the Florida Panthers. In 2023, Joel got to experience the Panther’s amazing run to the Stanley Cup Finals. 

 

Joel’s defining characteristics in public settings were his modesty, his kindness and his gravitas.  Joel was generally the quiet type, but when he did choose to speak, he commanded the room. In private settings with loved ones, he was warm, affable and witty.  Those who knew him well were frequent beneficiaries of his dry sense of humor.  

 

Joel was an a wonderful father, and a loving husband.  His children were his greatest source of pride, and he equipped them with the education, confidence, and love needed to spur their own successes.  Two years ago, almost to the day, Joel lost his wife of 54 years. We take comfort in their reunion. 

 

Joel was predeceased by his parents Joe and Patricia Eaton. He is survived by his sons Douglas, Darryl and David; their wives Molly, Isa, and Erin; his grandchildren, Jack and Grace, Samuel, Otis and Story, and Cylar; his sisters, Janet Eaton Sherr (Brian) and Morgana MacVicar; his sisters-in-law Anita Young (Wade) and Barbara Taylor; his nieces Caroline, Christine, Joelle, Nicole, Alexa, Elise and Mallerie. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Joel’s honor to Folds of Honor or the ACLU. 

 

The family will be holding a memorial service for him on January 22, 2024. Please email Doug’s wife Molly at mollyeaton1010@gmail.com for details and to RSVP. Joel will be inurned both at Arlington National Cemetery and around his home in North Carolina, where he will be reunited with Mary.  Please visit https://www.joelandmaryeaton.org/ for photos, memories and charity links.