Warren G. Shimeall, an attorney who worked in Japan for 53 years, died of heart failure at Tokyo Medical University Hospital on Tuesday, his family said. He was 79.

Shimeall, who was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1925, received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1949. In 1952 he came to Japan as a military legal officer for the headquarters of the Occupation and worked under Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

In 1954 Shimeall received a license to practice law in Japan from the Daini (Second) Tokyo Bar Association and worked at a law firm. In 1974 he joined the Welty, Shimeall & Kasari International Law & Patent Office in Tokyo and became senior partner in the late 1970s.

He was a member of Daini Tokyo Bar Association, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and Tokyo Masonic Lodge No. 2.

Funeral services will be held at Tokyo Union Church in Omotesando, Shibuya Ward, at 11 a.m. Saturday.