Malcolm Pfunder Obituary

Pfunder

Malcolm R. Pfunder

Malcolm R. Pfunder died on October 11, 2023 at his home in Kensington, Maryland. He had Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia. Sandy, as he was known to his family and friends, was born in 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Malcolm G. Pfunder and Helen Wash Pfunder. He attended the Blake School in Minneapolis and graduated from Harvard University in 1965. For the next two years, Sandy was a Peace Corps Volunteer in northeastern Turkey, serving as a rural community development worker. After Peace Corps, Sandy attended Yale Law School, and in 1971 began the practice of antitrust law in Washington, DC at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson.



He next served as the original Assistant Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of Pre-merger Notification. Subsequently, he joined the firm of Hamel, Park, McCabe & Saunders, and was a partner at Hamel & Park as well as at Hopkins & Sutter. Later, Sandy joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as Of Counsel, and retired from the firm in 2010.



Sandy was active in the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law. He served as Clayton Act Committee chairman and as a member of the Antitrust Section's Council.

In addition to his professional interests, Sandy served on the board of the Barker Adoption Foundation, and for many years was counsel to the board and a board member at Green Acres School, which both of his sons attended.



Perhaps Sandy's signal life experience was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, which brought him a deep and ongoing connection to and interest in Turkey. Between 1975 and 2013, he returned seven times to the village where he had lived as a volunteer, and made additional trips to other places in Turkey as well. He wrote about his Peace Corps experience and two of his later return visits in Village in the Meadows, Citlembik Publications, Istanbul (2007). At home, Sandy was treasurer and longtime Board member of Anatolian Artisans, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Turkish handicrafts and entrepreneurship in rural areas, and to raising the understanding and appreciation of Turkish arts and culture. He was also active in the American-Turkish Association of DC, taking Turkish language classes and serving on its board of directors, and was a long-time member of the Washington, DC area Arkadashlar, an association of returned Peace Corps volunteers from Turkey.



Sandy is survived by his wife of 50 years, Margaret Swenson Pfunder, his son Nicholas Pfunder and wife Kristin and daughter Suzie; and his son Graeme Pfunder and wife Elisabeth Sterling. He is also survived by his sister Elizabeth Whittlesey and her husband Baur Whittlesey.



The details of a memorial gathering to be held in the Spring will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, Sandy would ask that you support the Barker Adoption Foundation, Green Acres School, Anatolian Artisans, or a charity of your choice.