James H. Watz, 79, attorney who specialized in real estate law | Featured Obituaries

May 30, 1942 – March 22, 2022

James H. Watz, a partner in the law firm of Phillips Lytle LLP whose specialty was commercial real estate, died March 22 after a lengthy illness. Hey what 79.

Born in Buffalo, he was a 1959 graduate of Riverside High School, where he was an all-state tennis player. An honor student, he also was a member of the basketball team, a Student Council member and a Boys’ State representative.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Canisius College in 1963 and graduated summa cum laude from Boston College Law School. He and his high school sweetheart, Sharon L. Fenlon, were married June 6, 1964.

An officer in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps at Canisius and Boston College, he went on to active duty as a captain in the Judge Advocate Generals Corps and was a chief of military justice. He then joined the faculty at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was an associate professor of law.

After he and his wife returned to Buffalo in 1971 to be near their families, he took a position with Phillips Lytle. Among his clients were the Walden Galleria, Canterbury Woods and the Buffalo Sabers. He was chosen as one of the Best Lawyers in America several times and was of counsel to the firm after he retired as a partner in 2003.