By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Roi Ellsworth Baugher II, a Cincinnati attorney who moved to Florida to work in the Naples office of Frost & Jacobs (now Frost Brown Todd), died Tuesday of cancer at Hospice of Naples. He was 67.

Moving to Florida was "quite a step for him because he was in his 50s and he left to go down to take the Florida bar exam, which was a very difficult bar examination," said Steve Phillips of Frost Brown Todd. "It was kind of an aggressive step."

Mr. Baugher was "very capable and he was very easy to work with, and that was a feeling about him which was held by all members of the bar who came in contact with him," Phillips said. "He was a very hard worker."

Born in Kokomo, Ind., in 1936, Mr. Baugher received a bachelor's degree from Purdue University in 1960, then served as a first lieutenant - in active duty and reserves - from 1960 until 1965.

He worked at IBM Corp. in Terre Haute, Ind., before moving to Cincinnati to work for the old Central Trust Co. in the 1960s.

Mr. Baugher received a master of business administration from the University of Cincinnati College of Business in 1969 and a law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1978.

Specializing in estate planning, trust administration and taxation, he went to work as legal counsel for Central Trust. He moved to Naples in 1987 and became a partner at Frost & Jacobs. He was also a partner at Roetzel & Andress and, most recently Steel Hector and Davis, in Naples.

"He was the Florida contact for Cincinnati lawyers dealing in the probate area," Phillips said.

Mr. Baugher played instruments, including trumpet and piano, and was in a barbershop quartet.

He also "loved to take pictures," said his daughter, Juliet Lynes Baugher Siddons of Dallas. "He loved to have fun. He loved to spend time with his family. He was a very sweet and gentle person."

While in Cincinnati, Mr. Baugher was a member of the Cincinnati Club and the Bankers Club and chairman of the estate planning section of the Cincinnati Bar Association, according to his daughter. He was also a member of the Ohio, Florida and Collier County (Fla.) bar associations.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife of 40 years, Paige Bilz Baugher; a son, John Bilz of Mason; a sister, Marjorie Adele Baugher Pierson of Indiana; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service is 2 p.m. Saturday at Fuller Funeral Home, 1625 Pine Ridge Road in Naples. Interment will be at Davids Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio.

Memorials: Hospice of Naples, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, Fla. 34105, Gilda's Club, 119 Rose Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33316 or the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45220.