Brought together by grief, family and friends of a fallen Marine were soon at odds over how to honor his legacy, a bitter dispute that spawned a lawsuit after the soldier's mother was removed from the board that established a memorial scholarship.
The two sides say they will continue separate charitable efforts after a judge refused the mother's request to bar her son's friends from raising money for a cause she does not support.
Pamela Adle-Watts, whose son, Lance Cpl. Patrick Ryan Adle, was killed three years ago by a roadside bomb in Iraq, sued to dismantle the scholarship program, claiming that operating the fund without the consent of her son's estate was an invasion of privacy.
After a bitter stalemate that endured for almost two years, Harford County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Marshall granted a motion last month for summary judgment in favor of the defendants, allowing the scholarship corporation to continue under a new name.
In a 10-page written opinion filed May 31, Marshall said he could not stop the group from raising funds in Adle's memory.
"In absence of any imminent harm that may come to the parties without a ruling, this court can only see a controversy that has yet to come to fruition," Marshall wrote. "To prohibit defendants from speaking about the decedent in 'any' way, just to protect the plaintiff from speculative harm, would be tantamount to a gag order, which would implicate a myriad of constitutional rights."
Adle-Watts declined to comment on the judge's ruling. But the Bel Air resident said she intends to push forward with her own charitable efforts.
Members of the scholarship board, meanwhile, said they were relieved by the decision. Though legal fees have drained half of the fund, the board recently awarded a $2,500 scholarship to a senior at Fallston High School, Adle's alma mater.
"We've been severely impacted, but we've got plans to get back together and have a fundraiser this year," said Ronald E. Cooper, a defendant whose daughter and son were close friends with Adle.
The dispute - pitting Adle's mother and stepfather against his friends - stemmed from disagreements over how to honor the soldier, a former star athlete who was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed. Patrick's father, Michael Adle, was not a trustee of the scholarship corporation, but has supported the friends' effort.
Just months after Adle's death, his friends established a college scholarship program to benefit Fallston High students. They set up a five-member board of trustees that included Adle-Watts.
In a nod to her son's military service, Adle-Watts also wanted children of Marine families to be eligible for scholarships, regardless of whether they attended Fallston High. She had traveled to Folsom, Pa., where Adle's military engineering unit is based, and discussed the idea with officers who served overseas with her son.
But the concept got a lukewarm reception from the foundation's other members. Unable to reach a compromise, the group voted Adle-Watts off the board in September 2005.
Adle-Watts then told the corporation's trustees that her son's estate was withdrawing its permission to use his name. Last year, she obtained a trademark for his name.
In his decision, Marshall noted that the group had changed the name of the fund from the Lance Corporal Patrick Ryan Adle Scholarship Memorial Fund Corp. to Fallston Hero Scholarship Inc. and said it was not in violation of her trademark.
Family members from Adle's father's side said they were relieved by the decision.
"The scholarship fund was created in a positive manner to keep Patrick's memory alive in the community, created by his friends with the support of their parents," said Christa Adle, a cousin of Adle. "We didn't understand the reasoning behind [the dispute], and I don't think we ever will."
At an emotionally charged court hearing last spring, Adle's stepfather, Michael Watts, called the friends' action "disgraceful" and refused to shake hands with one of them.
Despite the continuing legal battle, Adle's parents came together last month for the dedication of a memorial to Harford County public school students who have died fighting overseas. Gathered with families of other fallen soldiers, Adle-Watts and Michael Adle stood on either side of the granite memorial, unveiling it as other families looked on.
justin.fenton@baltsun.com