Former judge Parraguirre dies

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005 | 8:48 a.m.

Born: Dec. 13, 1923, in Gardnerville, a third-generation Nevadan.

Education: Graduated from Douglas County High School; received a bachelor's degree in physiology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1949; received his law degree from the University of Denver School of Law in 1954.

Military: Captain and pilot in the Nevada Air National Guard in the 1960s.

Services: 10 a.m. Friday at Palm Mortuary on Main Street. Viewing: 4-7 p.m. Thursday at that location. Additional Services: Jan. 3 in Bridgeport, Calif. Interment in the family plot at Bridgeport Cemetery.

Survivors: Wife, Iris; sons Ron and Paul; daughter Kathy; and four grandchildren.

In the early 1950s noted attorney William Lloyd Prosser was visiting the Parraguirre family ranch in Bridgeport, Calif., and asked to be taken on a trail ride.

Accompanying him was Paul Parraguirre and Paul's younger brothers, David and Lorin. Paul, who had plans of becoming a doctor, was at the time a pre-med student at the University of California at Berkeley, where Prosser was dean of the law school.

"They had a long talk along the trail ride, and when it was done, Dean Prosser had convinced all three boys to make their career in law," said Nevada Supreme Court Justice Ron Parraguirre, Paul's son. "They all got scholarships and all became lawyers.

"That worked out well for Dad because he went on to defend doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice cases."

Paul C. Parraguirre, a descendant of 19th century Basque sheepherders who also served as a Nye County District Court judge and a Clark County deputy district attorney, died Sunday at a local hospice. He was 82.

He was the last survivor of the Parraguirre lawyer brothers. The youngest, Lorin, who also served in the Nevada Assembly, died in 1986. David died in 1998.

Ron Parraguirre, who early in his career worked with his father in private practice, said his dad was proud to also have defended major corporations in product liability cases, particularly an alarm company in a civil suit from the 1981 Hilton Hotel fire.

Parraguirre loved a fiery courtroom battle, his son said.

"He was a litigator," Ron said. "I'd watch him and (late attorney) Harry Claiborne go at it tooth and nail, then afterwards go to lunch together."

Paul Parraguirre also served as Nevada's deputy attorney general, Washoe County deputy district attorney and president of the Nevada State Bar Association.

In 1989 Gov. Bob Miller appointed him to the Fifth Judicial District Court bench in Tonopah.

As youngsters, Paul and his brothers helped their family establish the Sweetwater Ranch in Northern Nevada as one of the largest sheep operations in the state.

Paul was a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a trustee of the Nevada Law Foundation and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

The family said donations can be made in Paul Parraguirre's memory to a scholarship fund at UNR that will be established in his memory.

Ed Koch can be reached at 259-4090 or at koch@lasvegassun.com.