Roderick Conover Lankler
obituaries

Roderick Conover Lankler

TUBAC, Ariz. — Roderick Conover Lankler, devoted and very loved husband, father and grandfather died peacefully at his home in Tubac, Arizona, on Nov. 4, 2024. Rod graduated from St. Lawrence University (where he met his wife Barbara) and Columbia University Law School. Following law school he began his accomplished legal career at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, rising to become the Chief of the Trial Division. Rod thereafter became the New York State Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Corruption in the New York City Criminal Justice System and Executive Director of the Liman Commision.

Following public service, Rod was a founding partner of the elite New York City litigation boutique, Lankler, Siffert & Wohl. While in private practice he also served as Counsel to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Police Management and Personnel Policy, a member of the Mayor’s Committee on the Judiciary, a Commissioner on the New York City Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption (the Mollen Commission).

After retiring and relocating to Salisbury, Connecticut, Rod remained active in his church and community serving as Moderator of the Congregational Church, Chair of the Church Council, President of the Board of the Salisbury Visiting Nurses, Board of Directors of Rotary, Board member of the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Squad, Chairman of the Affordable Housing Committee, and Chairman of the Transfer Station Committee among numerous other community organizations.

Rod is survived by his wife Barbara, the love of his life, his sons and daughters-in-law Andrew and Beth, Douglas and Jill, Gregory and Tracy and Stephen and Diana. Additionally, he had ten grandchildren: Bradley, Justin, Isabel, Hanna, Decker, Cassidy, Emily, Aiden, Kyle and Molly. In lieu of flowers, please give your loved ones large and lasting hugs.

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