BRUCE TERRIS
BRUCE J. TERRIS (Age 83)
Of Washington DC died on February 3, 2017. Mr. Terris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on August 3, 1933.
He was the son of Charles Z. Terris, M.D. and Ruth Singer Terris. Mr. Terris graduated summa cum laude from Harvard
College in 1954 and magna cum laude in 1957 from Harvard Law School. In 1958, he joined the Justice Department,
working in the Solicitor General’s Office, where he argued 16 cases before the Supreme Court.
After leaving the Solicitor General’s Office, Mr. Terris was co­chairman of the Conference on Law and Poverty, which
resulted in the formation of the Legal Services Corporation, which provides legal services to the poor throughout the
country.
In 1968, he co­founded the Center for Law and Social Policy, one of the first public­interest law firms in the country.
In 1971, Mr Terris formed The Law Offices of Bruce J. Terris, later to become Terris Pravlik & Millian (TPM). From his
bed, he was still practicing law at TPM until a few days before his death.
He was predeceased by his parents, his brother, David Terris, his sister, Ann Rooke­ley and his first wife, Shirley Duval
Terris.
Mr Terris is survived by his wife of 39 years, Sally Gillespie; his children, Sally Phillips of Washington DC, Elizabeth
Terris of San Diego, CA, Jessica Kehimkar of Snohomish, WA and Robert Terris of Berkeley, CA; and 10 grandchildren,
Benjamin, Deborah, Sara, Lee, Gabriel, Aidin, Olivia, Dylan, Sam and Kiara.
Services will be held at Judean Memorial Gardens, Olney MD at 1 p.m., Sunday, February 5, 2017.
Funeral Home
Hines­Rinaldi Funeral Home
11800 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE Silver Spring, MD 20904
(301) 622­2290
Published in The Washington Post on Feb. 5, 2017