Henry Neill Ware, Jr.

Henry Neill Ware Jr. (“Harry”), died peacefully at home on January 2, 2024, surrounded by family on Bellevue Farm. Born in Richmond, Va. on November 26, 1954, he was the first of three children of the late Henry Neill Ware and Elizabeth Latane Ware Ware. He is survived by the love of his life and wife of 39 years, Marilynn Hamrick Ware, their three sons, Henry Neill Ware III (Jordan), Alexander Shepard Ware (Abbey), Robert Lowry Ware (Virginia), and grandchildren James Hutchins Ware and Hannah Francis Ware. He is also survived by his sisters Elizabeth Ware Katona (Scot) and Lucile Ware McCarthy (Chip), sister-in-law Janet Hamrick Norwood (Bart), brother-in-law Leander Shepard Hamrick Jr. (Martha), and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Harry grew up on Bellevue Farm in Ware’s Wharf, Virginia. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a degree in Anthropology in 1977, he moved to the eastern shore of Maryland to work as a waterfowl hunting guide. In 1982, he received a Juris Doctor from the TC Williams School of Law (UR), where he served on the law review. He and Marilynn met while both were in graduate school and married in 1984. They spent 30 years in Goochland County, raising their three boys on Little Bellevue Farm. In 2021, they retired to Bellevue, where their grandchildren endearingly renamed them “Hap” and “Sue Sue.”

Harry enjoyed a 40-year career practicing law, a profession he dearly loved. He gained invaluable experience and lifelong friendships early in his career as a litigator at McGuireWoods. Harry’s trial skills and acumen led him to form his own law firm with Gary Cook, a colleague and friend Harry admired greatly. In 2001, Harry joined Spotts Fain as one of the firm’s early partners, where he was a leader and trusted mentor for more than twenty years.

Harry was a lawyer’s lawyer upon whom his clients and colleagues depended for wise counsel. He was recognized by his peers in the legal profession, including appointment to the Boyd-Graves Conference and as a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, where he was on the Board of Directors and chaired or served on numerous committees. Harry was Chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s Civil Litigation Section and also of its Corporate Counsel Section. He was recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Products Liability Litigation-Defendants, and, most recently, was inducted into Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s Leaders of the Law, Class of 2023. Harry measured his own career by the success of those he mentored and, in this way, had a very successful career as a litigator and practice group chair at Spotts Fain.

Harry was a consummate gentleman and a passionate outdoorsman. He was happiest with family on the water, including mornings on the duck marsh with his sons (and dogs), afternoons on the sand bar with his grandchildren (and dogs), or a sunset cruise with Marilynn (and dogs). He enjoyed such pastimes most of all at his ancestral home: Bellevue.

A memorial service will be held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 12291 River Road, Richmond, Virginia 23238 (where he and Marilynn were members for 30 years) at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. A private burial will take place at Bellevue.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gift may be made to the Essex County Conservation Alliance at PO Box 356, Tappahannock, Virginia 22560 or the charity of your choice.