Minneapolis attorney Ron Meshbesher, who began his decades-long legal career as a Hennepin County prosecutor and retired as one of Minnesota’s best-known defense lawyers, died Wednesday at age 85.

Meshbesher suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in the last years of his life and entered hospice care in Deephaven in February, his wife said.

Meshbesher became a household name in the late 1970s when he won an acquittal for Marjorie Caldwell, who was accused of orchestrating the murder of her mother, Elisabeth Congdon, and a nurse at the Glensheen mansion in Duluth. This was just one of the roughly 70 trials Meshbesher would win over the course of his 57-year career, according to Minnesota Lawyer Magazine.

It wasn’t just juries who Meshbesher won over.

Mark Streed, his longtime partner at the firm of Meshbesher & Spence, said in an emailed statement that Meshbesher was loved by all who knew him.

“Ron was obviously a great trial lawyer and one of the biggest reasons was his amazing ability to connect with people — ALL people,” Streed wrote. “When you talked to him, he listened and made you feel truly special. As a law partner, he was a benevolent leader.”

Meshbesher retired in 2014.

Born in Minneapolis in 1933, Ronald I. Meshbesher knew growing up on the city’s north side that he wanted to practice law, receiving encouragement from his father, according to an oral history interview he gave to the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.

“I always wanted to be a lawyer from the time I can remember,” he said. “And I started going to court when I was a teenager and watching trials. … If there was an interesting case that was in the paper, I’d go and watch it.”

His singular focus on pursuing a legal career even inspired his younger brother, Ken, to do the same. The two would eventually go into business together.

“He was very special and I always looked up to him,” Ken Meshbesher said. “He was not only my brother, but he was always my closest friend.”

Ron Meshbesher graduated from Minneapolis North High School in 1951, before receiving his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Minnesota. At 24, he began practicing as a prosecutor for the Hennepin County attorney’s office, where he tried 45 felony cases in his first three years with a conviction rate of 92 percent, according to the Meshbesher & Spence website.

But it was as a defense attorney that Meshbesher shined brightest. He went into private practice in 1961 and founded the firm that would become Meshbesher & Spence a short time later with Ken and a handful of partners.

Ron Meshbesher quickly earned a reputation as a high-caliber trial lawyer, handling such front-page cases as the 1972 Virginia Piper kidnapping, Ken Meshbesher said. But it was Caldwell’s acquittal in 1979 that probably brought the most publicity, he added. Related Articles Gale Sayers, Bears Hall of Fame running back, dies at 77

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Ron Meshbesher would go on to represent dozens of other high-profile clients over the next three and a half decades, eventually earning a level of name recognition enjoyed by only a handful of local attorneys.

He was even name-checked in Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2009 film “A Serious Man,” which the St. Louis Park natives set in their hometown. When a character in the film needs legal advice, he’s advised to seek out Ron Meshbesher.

“He was a giant who left a great legacy,” Streed said in his email. “He will be missed.”

Following his retirement in January 2014, Meshbesher enjoyed spending more time with his family — especially his grandchildren, said Kim Meshbesher, his wife. But his Alzheimer’s symptoms made him increasingly dependent on her care.

Despite his declining health, the couple was still able to make annual trips to their home in the south of France each winter. It was after their last such trip in early 2017 that Meshbesher’s symptoms forced him into a memory care facility at Deephaven Woods.

After he died Wednesday afternoon with his wife by his side, Meshbesher’s body was taken to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he had been receiving treatment for his disease.

When his doctor at Mayo had asked Meshbesher three years ago whether he would consider donating his brain for Alzheimer’s research, his response was typical of his generous spirit, Kim Meshbesher recalled.

“If it can help other people, yes,” he said.

In addition to his wife and brother, Meshbesher is survived by his four daughters and three grandchildren.