Gabriel L.I. Bevilacqua, 75, of Philadelphia, longtime lawyer, onetime chairman of the city solicitor’s litigation department, former chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, past president of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, champion of the Italian American community, volunteer, and mentor, died Wednesday, June 7, of bone cancer at his home in Manasquan, N.J.

Mr. Bevilacqua and his family arrived in South Philadelphia from Italy in 1955, and he spent the next 68 years learning English, winning high school debate tournaments, representing illustrious clients, improving the American legal system, and fighting discriminatory stereotypes of all kinds.