Lawyer David Braverman, 72, proud Quaker, Marine

DAVID BRAVERMAN, a distinguished Philadelphia lawyer, and Richard Posner, a distinguished jurist and philosopher, had maintained a longtime correspondence since their student days at Harvard.

What did they write about? Cats.

"Their correspondence mostly concerned their love of cats," said David Braverman's son, William. "Here was this supersmart Philadelphia lawyer and supersmart judge and what they wrote about was cats."

David Braverman, a trusts and estates lawyer who recently specialized in health-care litigation, a proud retired Marine and a hiker who liked to test himself on the Appalachian Trail, died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 72 and lived in Chestnut Hill.

David was an interesting study in contrasts. He was a devoted Quaker, to which he was attracted by its philosophy of peace, but he was also so proud of his service in the Marine Corps that he recently had the Marine insignia tattooed on his forearm. And he was a rabid Republican, a party not famous for a pacifist posture.

"I think he went into the Marines to see if he could physically do it," his son said. "And he hiked the Appalachian Trail to test himself."

David Braverman was a native of Corning, N.Y. He came to Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955, and Harvard Law School in 1958. After three years in the Marines, he started practicing law in Philadelphia in the early '60s.

He had his own office until 2005, when he became associated with the Pepper Hamilton law firm.

"He was super-duper smart," his son said. "He started college at 16. He was a bookworm."

Although born Jewish, Braverman converted to Quakerism in Philadelphia, because of its philosophy of peace and because it offers a faith for those who are not especially religious, his son said.

"He was pretty hard-core Republican," his son said. "But he had a quirky sense of humor about it. He collected political memorabilia. He had a John McCain T-shirt and hand towel, and had items from Richard Nixon's campaigns."

David named one of his numerous cats "Dick," which his son assumes was after Posner, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, and an influential author and lecturer on law and economics.

David's other cats included Lisa Ruth, named after a family friend, and Mo, which he inherited from his son.

"They weren't pedigreed or anything," William said. "They were cats that needed a home."

His father's other interests included gardening and playing an active role in the Friends of Pastorius Park.

When he was getting his Marine tattoo, David also had the name of his grandson, Nathaniel, now 7, included beneath the Marine insignia.

Besides his son, he is survived by a sister, Devon Darrow, and another grandson.

Services: Memorial service 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Chestnut Hill Meeting House, 100 E. Mermaid Lane. Donations may be made to the Friends of Pastorius Park, Box 27158, Market Square Station, Philadelphia, 19118, or the American Diabetes Association, Box 11454, Alexandria, Va., 22312.