Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Page 4
Retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rogan Dies at 91
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Services are scheduled for the day after tomorrow for retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary G. Rogan, who died Sunday at the age of 91.
Her son, Santa Monica attorney Patrick G. Rogan, said she died at her beachfront home in Laguna Beach, where she moved after retiring from the Superior Court bench.
She began her law career serving in the office of the general counsel for the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington D.C. during WWII while her husband was serving as a lieutenant in the Navy. She and Richard Rogan had been classmates at Yale Law School, from which she graduated in 1938 as one of only four woman in her graduating class, and were married in 1942.
Mary Rogan was born and raised in New Haven, Conn. where she attended Albertus Magnus College before going on to law school. Her father, Patrick Goode, was the postmaster of New Haven and founder of WNHT television, one of New England’s first stations, her son said.
Mary and Richard Rogan moved to Burbank in 1947. Richard Rogan, who died in 1996, was a member of a family that had lived in the area for more than 100 years, and the couple practiced there as Rogan & Rogan.
Mary Rogan was appointed to the Burbank Municipal Court in 1965 by then-Gov. Pat Brown and elevated to the Superior Court by then-Gov. Jerry Brown 10 years later. Richard Rogan served as chief deputy attorney general under Stanley Mosk before returning to Burbank, where he practiced with Eugene Radding.
As an attorney, she handled a variety of commercial, real estate and family law matters.
One client was Jimmy Durante, whom she represented in a difficult adoption proceeding.
After handling civil and criminal matters in the lower court, she sat in Pasadena as a Superior Court judge handling primarily a criminal calendar. A newspaper profile said she had a reputation for being tough but fair in sentencing and probation matters and for taking a keen interest in those she had placed on probation.
Survivors, besides Patrick Rogan, include sons Michael Rogan of Corona del Mar, an executive with Kelly Blue Book; Maria Rogan of Laguna Beach, a speech pathologist; Brian Rogan of Walnut Creek, a sales and marketing executive; Dennis Rogan of Incline, Nev., a resort manager; and Richard Rogan of Laguna Beach, a commercial property manager, along with seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Mary Rogan also served as a president of the National Charity League and as adirector of the Community Concert Association, the La Providencia Guild among others and the Yale Law School Alumni Association. She was also president of the Burbank Bar Association, and was active in the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the Society of International Law, the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.
Thursday’s services are scheduled for 12 noon at St. Catherine of Siena Church, 1042 Temple Terrace, Laguna Beach. The family asked that any memorial donations be made to either the Constitutional Rights Foundation, 601 South Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles 90005 or to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles 90026.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company