Judge William J. “Bill” Rea, a resident of Pacific Palisades for 45 years, passed away on August 3 owing to complications following surgery. He was 85 years old. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Rea served with distinction as a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles, and continued to try cases up until the time of his passing. “Judge Rea was an outstanding man and coach,” said his Palisades friend Emil Wroblicky, who recalled coaching against Rea’s Orioles team in the youth baseball league at the Palisades Recreation Center in the late early 1970s. Palisades attorney Roger Diamond, who appeared before Rea in both civil and criminal cases, also praised the jurist. “He was a kind, decent man and a very smart judge. He gave us fair hearings and his rulings were proper and correct,” Diamond told the Palisadian-Post. “Although he was appointed by Ronald Reagan, his decisions were not stereotypically conservative. He never hesitated doing the right thing.” Born in Los Angeles on February 21, 1920, Bill Rea graduated from Mt. Carmel High School, entered UCLA and then transferred to Loyola University in Los Angeles on a partial athletic scholarship. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs baseball organization as a power-hitting first baseman. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, Rea was placed on inactive duty until he received his degree in economics in June 1942. He attended midshipman school at Notre Dame University and Columbia University, and was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy on November 2, 1942. Following gunnery and torpedo training in San Diego, Rea was assigned as gunnery officer to the destroyer USS Jenkins, where he served with distinction for 31 months in the South Pacific during World War II, including an important role in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. His ship was awarded 18 battle stars and a presidential unit citation. By the end of the war, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander and was given command of another destroyer. But during the war, the USS Jenkins was damaged by enemy fire, kamikaze attacks and a mine, causing Rea’s ship to return to Long Beach for repairs. The ship hosted visitors, including a young lady from Denver, Colorado, by the name of Cathy Douden, whose brother Pete Douden was also serving on a destroyer. Cathy struck up a conversation with the officer on duty, which led to a romance that lasted the rest of Rea’s life. Following the war, Rea attended law school at the University of Colorado in Boulder, graduating third in his class. He was quarterback of the law school’s intramural football team, which played and defeated the university’s intercollegiate team. The Reas moved to Los Angeles, where Bill was admitted to the bar in 1951. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. Rea practiced law as a trial attorney from 1952 until 1968, when Governor Ronald Reagan (a fellow resident of Pacific Palisades) appointed him to the Los Angeles Superior Court. He served as Supervising Judge of the Northwest District in Van Nuys from 1971 to 1980, and also served as Judge pro tem on the California Court of Appeals. In 1984, President Reagan nominated Rea for an appointment to the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on June 15, 1984. During his career, Rea received many honors, including being named as Trial Judge of the Year by both the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He helped establish the American Board of Trial Advocates in 1958, and in 1987 he founded the ABOTA American Inn of Court, which has become one of the nation’s oldest and finest Inns. The membership later changed the name to the William J. Rea American Inn of Court in honor of its founder. Rea was a guest lecturer at various law schools and bar associations, and co-authored the treatise “California Practice Guide: Personal Injury.” He enjoyed golf, paddle tennis and fishing with his friends on the White River in Colorado, and was a member of Los Angeles Country Club and the Jonathan Club. He was active in several charities, including the Assistance League of Southern California (where his wife was a two-term president), the Braille Institute, the Freedom Foundation, and Sensory Integration International. In Pacific Palisades, Rea was a member of American Legion Post 283 in the Palisades and a parishioner at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, where he was a fixture at the 8 a.m. Sunday mass. He also coached his son John’s Palisades Baseball Association teams for seven years, and continued to coach several years thereafter. Rea is survived by his wife of 58 years, Cathy; by his son John, an attorney who lives in Palos Verdes Estates with his wife, Merredith; and by his grandsons Matthew and Jeffrey. A funeral Mass will be held at Corpus Christi today at 11 a.m., followed by a graveside flag ceremony at Forest Lawn in Glendale and a reception. The family suggests a charitable donation to the Braille Institute (1-800-BRAILLE), or to Home Ownership for Personal Empowerment (H.O.P.E.), 21231 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503.
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