Tuesday, June 10, 2001
Page 3
Services Scheduled for Alhambra Attorney John Trapani, Dead at Age 71
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Services are set for tomorrow and Thursday for Alhambra lawyer John Trapani.
Trapani, 71, died July 6 of complications resulting from prostate cancer.
“He was a unique character,” Arcadia lawyer and San Gabriel Valley Bar Association Treasurer Mike Miller said. “The people lost a friend in his death. When he saw injustice, he fought it and spoke out about it.”
An active member of the San Gabriel Valley Bar Association and Italian American Lawyers Association, Trapani was honored July 1 with the Grand Sicilia Award of the Sicilia Culturale Society. Although his parents were from the Italian province of Calabria, Trapani traced his ancestry to Sicily.
He graduated from the University of Rome in 1951, then moved to the United States and earned a law degree from St. John’s University in New York. He later moved to Southern California and became the Pasadena city prosecutor.
He was best known for his later work as a criminal defense lawyer and a civil litigator for the underdog.
“John would champion all of the losing causes for people who didn’t have money,” Miller said. “He was an advocate for the poor and downtrodden.”
Trapani also taught numerous subjects at Pepperdine University’s law school.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Marie Ferro, and their seven children and two grandchildren.
Family and friends requested that in lieu of flowers donations be sent to the Italian American Lawyers Association, the Lawyer Referral and Information Service, the San Gabriel Valley Bar Association, and others of his favorite causes, the names of which are to be announced at his services.
Rosary and viewing are set for tomorrow at 7 p.m. at All Souls Church, 17 S. Electric Ave., Alhambra.
A funeral mass is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m., also at All Souls Church. Interment is to follow immediately at Resurrection Cemetery in San Gabriel.
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company