Brice Toland Voran passed away at McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, Michigan on September 18, 2018, following heart surgery. Brice was born in New York City on January 27, 1942, the son of Reed Daniel and Joella Virginia Voran. His father served in the FBI in New York during WWII, and afterward returned to their home in Muncie, Indiana.
Brice graduated from Burris Laboratory School in Muncie in 1960, and from Yale in 1964, with a political science degree. At Yale he was a member of Calhoun College and Phi Gamma Delta. In 1965, he received a Certificate in European Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
Brice earned his JD from Duke Law School in 1968. After law school Brice practiced Corporate Law at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York where he made partner in 1975. It was there that he met his wife Chris and they married in Walloon Lake, Michigan on July 24, 1983.
During his 38 years at Shearman & Sterling Brice helped open the firm’s Los Angeles office and was the Managing Partner of the firm’s Toronto office. In 2006, Brice and Chris retired to their beloved Walloon Lake, where he and his children spent their summers growing up. Brice was a lifelong learner who immersed himself in everything that caught his interest.
He piloted his family and dog on vacations in his Cessna CT210 throughout California, Montana, Michigan, Toronto, and the Caribbean, much to his children’s terror. In 1987, Brice and his friend flew a Mooney M201 in an air rally from New York to Paris to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight. During an ice storm Brice radioed air traffic control and, when asked if he was declaring an emergency, responded, “Not if you give me a clearance to land!
” During his retirement in Walloon Brice devoted his time to conserving and protecting the lake he loved so much. He was President of the Walloon Lake Trust and Conservancy, and later Chairman of the Land Preservation Committee. He also volunteered as a board member of the Charlevoix Circle of Arts.
In his later years his passion was portrait photography and he became well known as an exhibitor in local photography shows. Brice was preceded in death by his parents and brother Spencer. He is survived by his wife Chris; son Reed Voran (Traci Christofore) and their daughters Stevie and Joey in Florida; daughter Kate (Robert) Magrane in New York; and sister Patrice (Andy) Young in Montana.
A memorial service will take place at 2PM on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at The Talcott in Walloon Lake Village. Anyone wishing to make a memorial contribution may send one to the Walloon Lake Trust and Conservancy or the Crooked Tree District Library.
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