Wednesday, March 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Former Nevada Supreme Court Justice John Mowbray, whose judicial career spanned five decades, died today in a Las Vegas hospital of complications from diabetes. He was 78.
Mowbray's influence and achievements not only involved the justice system and legal community, but the city that grew up with him.
Former U.S. Rep. James Bilbray noted several years ago that had it not been for Mowbray and his family, Bishop Gorman High School might never have been built.
The Mowbray family donated the land on Maryland Parkway where the school has been for the last 40 years.
Mowbray has been called a humanitarian and avid civil rights advocate who was instrumental in launching the Clark County public defender's office in 1966 and appointing now-U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan as its chief.
During the same decade, Mowbray secured passage of Nevada's first laws to protect mistreated and abused children.
But it was in the legal arena where Mowbray made his biggest mark.
"He was a giant on the Nevada legal landscape for 40 years," Justice Bob Rose said today. "He said exactly what he believed and had the courage of his convictions to do exactly what he said. He was a moral force."
"He was a leader for judicial reform throughout his career," said District Judge John McGroarty. "His life exemplified service to his profession and his community."
U.S. District Judge Lloyd George said that Mowbray had spoken to a group at the federal court a couple of months ago and "he had not lost any of his luster."
"The term 'dignity' is one that characterized Judge Mowbray," George said.
District Attorney Stewart Bell said Nevada is "much the better for Mowbray having touched it. He left a legacy of competentness and integrity."
"He was one of the really great gentlemen in the judicial field," said District Judge Jack Lehman. "He was always fair and honest and he made a real contribution to the justice system.
Chief Justice Miriam Shearing called Mowbray a "caring and compassionate person who looked out for the ordinary citizens of Nevada."
Mowbray was appointed to the District Court bench in 1959 by then-Gov. Grant Sawyer. He served there until being appointed to the Nevada Supreme Court in 1967 by Gov. Paul Laxalt when the court expanded from three to five members.
Paul Laxalt, who is now president of a government and business consulting firm in Washington, D.C., said today:
"As governor, when I appointed my good friend, John Mowbray, a Democrat, to the Supreme Court, I rather surprised many of my Republican supporters. John demonstrated to one and all, in the many years he served with distinction, that he was eminently qualified to serve on the court. He was a distinguished jurist, a devoted husband and parent, and, very importantly to him, a great American. I shall miss him greatly."
At the high court, Mowbray built a reputation as a straight shooter who sometimes would explode with indignation when he thought an injustice had been done.
His son, John H. Mowbray, also a lawyer, recalled that the retired justice "felt that all litigants, regardless of their stature, should be on an even playing field in having their disputes resolved."
Gov. Bob Miller said the death of Mowbray was "almost like losing a member of my extended family." He said he knew Mowbray since he was a small boy.
"He epitomized what you would expect a judge to look like and act," Miller said. "He dressed dignified and carried himself with a propriety that you associate with a judge."
Mowbray, the governor said, raised a fine family and was a credit to public service. "If you wanted to draw a mental image of what a judge should look like, it would be John Mowbray," Miller said.
Justice Cliff Young, an ally with Mowbray on the court, called him a "great guy. He certainly left his imprint on the Nevada judiciary.
"He was a man who strongly believed in the jury system and in simplifying the jury system. I just sent him a St. Patrick Day card yesterday and I was hoping to hear him sing 'Danny Boy' again. He had a great voice."
Hampered by failing eyesight from glaucoma, Mowbray failed to file for re-election in 1992 and was replaced on the high court by Justice Shearing.
Mowbray, a Bradford, Ill., native, is survived by his wife, Kathlyn Hammes Mowbray; four sons, John, Romy, Jerry and Terry; and four grandchildren.
While the glaucoma limited his mobility and required that his law clerks read cases to him, it didn't diminish his spirit.
In a 1990 interview with the SUN, Mowbray lamented his vision problems that required him to scribble notes in large letters so he could later decipher what he had written.
"It's just a bitch -- I'm not going to lie to you," the outspoken judge said.
During World War II, Mowbray was an Army Air Corps pilot who rose to the rank of major and later served as a military governor over a province in Korea.
A 1949 graduate with honors from Notre Dame Law School, Mowbray received the Award of the Year from that school in 1977. The following year, UNLV awarded him an honorary doctor of law degree.
In 1971, Mowbray was honored as the outstanding alumnus from Western Illinois University, where he had earned his undergraduate degree. Three years later, the university named a campus building, Mowbray Hall, in his honor.
Mowbray's concern for citizens won him the Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty Award at his retirement luncheon for advancing the cause of human rights.
At that luncheon, Nevada's first black attorney, Charles Keller -- who had nominated Mowbray for the NAACP's Equal Justice Award -- thanked the justice for all the work he had done for citizens of all races.
"He has a great deal of compassion, which is what every judge should have," Keller said. "He does what he thinks is right and he's not afraid of criticism."
Mowbray received two George Washington Honor Medals from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, where he served as a trustee.
He also received the Silver Beaver and the Silver Antelope awards from the Boy Scouts of America.
During his time on the Nevada Supreme Court, Mowbray received the Equal Justice Award from the NAACP, the Jurist of the Year from the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association, the Liberty Bell Award from the American Bar Association and the Clark County Bar Association and the Judicial Officer of the Year Award from the State Sheriff and Police Association.
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