Sunday, Sep. 13, 2009

Success & Service - Modesto attorney Gianelli inducted into law school hall of fame

The late Modesto attorney Louis F. "Bud" Gianelli was among four people inducted into the Humphreys College Laurence Drivon School Hall of Fame at a dinner Saturday night.

Gianelli graduated from Stockton High and served in the Navy from 1944-46. He earned a degree in business from the University of California at Berkeley and began Humphreys College Law School in 1958 but left after 1960 to pursue a business opportunity in Modesto. He returned to law school in 1970, graduating and passing the bar in 1972. He established the law firm of Gianelli and Associates in Modesto.

He amassed a long record of community service, including terms as president of the County Heart Association, Modesto Lions, the Chamber of Commerce and the Modesto Racquet Club. He was named boss of the year by the County Legal Secretaries and served as president of the California Association of Inheritance Tax Referees, the Memorial Hospitals Association of Stanislaus County and the Modesto Rotary Club.

Gianelli died in February at age 80.

Rodney D. Pedersen, a 1974 graduate of Davis High School, was named an area engineer by the Georgia Department of Transportation. He will oversee all construction activities for the Interstate 75 widening projects in south Georgia.

Jennifer Nicole Billock, a 2005 graduate of Beyer High School and 2009 graduate of San Francisco State University, departs at the end of this month to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan. She will teach English.

Former Modestan Tye C. Bell received his law degree from Pennsylvania State University, where he was senior editor of the Penn State Law Review and received the CALI Excellence in Torts Award. He is a criminal justice graduate of California State University, Stanislaus. He has joined a law firm in Wilmington, Del.

Appointments: The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors named Daryl Poppen to a three-year term on the Keyes Fire Protection District board of directors and David Cooper to another term on the Children and Families Commission.

In business: Lisa Minardi was honored by Modern Woodmen of America as its top agent in the country in August. A Modesto resident, she is part of the Michael Boerner Agency based in Elk Grove. She specializes in estate and retirement planning and life insurance.

Submit news of awards and achievements for this column to local@modbee.com.