Landscape Architect and WWI & II veteran, 106, dies

Reuben Law was the last World War I veteran in Nevada at the time of his death.
Photo courtesy of www.reviewjournal.com

Reuben Law, a retired landscape architect whose firm helped design the country's first indoor mall, died Jan. 1 at age 106. Law, a native of Northfield, Minn., began his career as a landscape architect with Morrell & Nichols in 1929, after he had served during World War I. He joined the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Division of Parks and Recreation in 1935 and later became its deputy director. After World War II, he returned to Morrell & Nichols and in the 1950s, he helped found the firm of Nason, Law, Wehrman & Knight. They developed the three-story garden court at Southdale Center, the nation's first indoor, climate-controlled shopping mall. The garden boasted thousands of plants of about 60 varieties.

In 1965, Law retired and moved to Emily, Minn., where he served as mayor for a time and helped bring telephone service to the community. In 1993, five years after the death of his second wife, he moved to Carson City, Nev. to live with his son. Law was reportedly in good health until he came down with pneumonia in late December. His daughter, Margaret Melrose of Minneapolis, survives him along with his sons, David of Carson City, Walter of Knoxville, Tenn., and Jim of Pompano Beach, Fla., as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for June in Minneapolis.