Obituary of Thomas Vincent Vakerics

Born in Lorain Ohio in March, 1944, Tom passed away June 15 in Reston Hospital in Northern Virginia of heart related complications after a two year illness. He will be dearly missed by his wife of 51 years Kathryn (Kay) Rogers Vakerics, daughter Meredith Ehler (Geoff), son Mitchell Vakerics(Jasmine) and his grandchildren Caroline, Bennett, Webb Thomas and Charlotte. He is preceded in death by his mother Margaret (Dobos) Vakerics and father Paul Vakerics. Tom graduated Bowling Green State University with a BA in 1965 and JD with honors from George Washington University Law School in 1968, Order of the Coif. Having practiced law for over 40 years at Washington, DC's top law firms, Tom was widely viewed as an expert on antitrust matters, with a focus on international trade. He is the sole author of "Antitrust Basics" 1985, New York Law Publishing Company. He is the lead author of a major legal treatise on international trade law, "Antidumping, Countervailing Duty and Other Trade Actions," published by PLI in New York, NY, 1987 and by the Commercial Law Centre, Inc., Tokyo Japan. Tom was consistently listed as "Who's Who in American Law" and his books have been translated in many languages. Tom had a significant amount of experience representing foreign corporations in antidumping investigations including, among others, companies based in Japan, China, Korea, Norway, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands and Canada. Throughout his many years of extensive travels to China, Korea and Japan on behalf of clients, Tom developed a respect for the fine craftsmanship of Japanese woodblock prints, Netsukes and snuff bottles. His other interests were collecting political campaign memorabilia and carpentry. While Tom loved the law, at the end of the day he was a family man to the core. Spending time with his children and grandchildren was his highest priority. A celebration of life will be held privately at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Jill's House at http://jillshouse.org/memorial-and-tribute-donations/ in Tom's name.