DAWN TILMAN, 77, of Hilo, Hawaii, formerly of Boulder City, passed away June 2, 2014. She was born Nov. 9, 1936, in Las Vegas. Dawn was the eldest child of Noma and Lee Tilman (one of the original 31er's). Dawn attended Boulder City public schools from elementary school until her graduation from Boulder City High School. One of her siblings described Dawn as a free spirit who was absolutely fearless. Dawn graduated from the University of Southern California Law Center with a Jurist Doctorate in 1973 and became a member of the California Bar. She practiced law in California and later for the Federal Government until she retired as an Administrative Judge for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Dec. 31, 1999. Dawn and her husband moved to the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii in June 1997 and resided there until her death. She was a dedicated advocate for the poor and underprivileged. She worked for Legal Aid from 1974 to the end of 1980. While at Legal Aid, she was the attorney on the case which established that due process requires that a non English speaking indigent defendant in a civil case must be provided an interpreter at the court's expense. She was also responsible for establishing in California that the biological father of a child must provide child support for the child even if at the time of conception he was intentionally misinformed by the mother about her use of birth control. Dawn was the lead attorney on the class action law suit which forced the Los Angeles Police Department to protect women from domestic violence. From late 1980 until 1983, she was in private practice. During that time, she was retained by Whittier College School of Law to establish and teach a clinical law program. She was made an Adjunct Professor at Western State University College of Law to teach Civil Procedure and Administration. During this period, she also worked on an ongoing probono project she named the "Family Law Project" which would provide family law services for the poor. She obtained seed money to start the project and convinced a local charity to provide a building for office space, furniture and equipment. She used some money from the grant to hire office workers. She recruited volunteers mainly from the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. As Executive Director for this probono project, she persuaded both organizations to adopt the project and to actively raise money to continue it and hire a salaried executive director. The "Family Law Project" became quite successful and was renamed the "Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law." For her effort in establishing this Project, she was awarded the "Ernestine Stahlhut Award" by the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles in 1983. For the next 17 years she was Administrative Judge for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission making decisions concerning discrimination in the federal service. Through all of her career, she was a good and loving wife to her husband and mother to her children. Dawn was preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Noma Tilman; sister, Nomalee Tilman; and her eldest child, Robyn Scott McCarthy. Dawn is survived by her husband, William T. Elston; six children, Ellen Crane, Bonnie Scott, Paul C. Scott, Stephanie Elston, Brynn Elston and William C. Elston; a sister, Kathleen Tilman; and three brothers, Rick Tilman, Tim Tilman and Paul Tilman. She had five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Services are private.

Published in Boulder City Review on June 19, 2014