BATON ROUGE - Prominent attorney, educator, and leader in East Baton Rouge Parish, Paul Slocomb West has died at the age of 65.

On Jan. 26, West passed away while holding his wife Kathy's hand. The two were married for over 40 years and have two sons, Andrew and Michael.

West moved to Baton Rouge from St. Petersburg Florida to attend LSU decades ago, making it his mission to leave the city better than he found it.

He graduated at the top of his class from LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center and in 1992, he was elected Louisiana State Bar Association's "Outstanding Young Lawyer."

West later became the president of the Baton Rouge Bar Association in 1998 and president of the International Association of Gaming Advisors in 2010, later appointed Counselor.

He went on to develop "Gaming Law" at LSU and taught the course for the last 10 years.

Committed to lifelong learning, West received his MBA from LSU in 2005 and most recently took mediation dispute resolution courses at Pepperdine University.

West was also committed to making Baton Rouge a better place. He was a past president of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, City Club of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Arts and Science Museum, and the Baton Rouge Gallery.

In support of the Greater Baton Rouge area, West also served on many boards, including The Arts Council, Alzheimer's Association, Hospice, and Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

He proudly served as the founding chair of the Manship Theatre Board of Director as well as the Shaw Center.

Leaving behind a large and loving family, West's life will be celebrated "when times are less complicated," his family says.

In lieu of flowers, the West family asks to consider a donation in Paul's name to the scholarship fund at St. Alban's Chapel at LSU to support their nurturing of all LSU students.