Rep. Terry Nealey of Dayton will retire from law firm

Terry Nealey, the LaCrosse High School graduate who is now a state representative for the 16th legislative district, has announced his retirement from practicing law at Dayton, according to a report in last week’s edition of the Dayton Chronicle.

Now 67, Nealey is a member of the Nealey and Marinella law firm in Dayton.

When Nealey was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2009, he followed in the footsteps of his father, the late Darwin Nealey of LaCrosse who represented Whitman County as a state legislator from the ninth district.

A member of the 1965 class at LaCrosse High School, Nealey received his undergraduate degree from Washington State University where he was in the ROTC program. He began studies at Gonzaga Law school after serving in Korea during the Vietnam War, according to the Chronicle report.

Nealey and his wife, the former Jan Copp of Hooper, moved to Dayton in 1975 with their two children, Keith and Kristin. He started practicing law in Dayton with the late Bert Woolson, who was serving as prosecutor at Dayton. After Woolson retired, Nealey was elected prosecutor and served in the position for 16 years.

A top basketball player with the LaCrosse Tigers in high school, Nealey also served as an assistant coach and then coach of the Dayton boys’ team and then the girls’ team. He was an assistant to Jay Webber in 1994 when the Bulldogs won the state title for the first time in 27 years.

Nealey told the Chronicle one of the things he and Jan plan to accomplish during retirement will be to finish a quest to attend a baseball game in every major league stadium. To date, they have attended games in 23 parks in 19 cities.