The Story of a Kid from Myrtle Point by REBECCA HEINTZ
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Ore on BE CH THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT OF ORECON HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLEDER The Honorable Robert C. Belloni The Story of a Kid from Myrtle Point By REBECCA HEINTZ he Honorable Robert C. Belloni had a long and medical school after graduation. One summer, while Tdistinguished career of judicial service in Or- still in college, he worked as the janitor for the law egon, serving 10 years as a state court judge and school. In his oral history, he said, "law school almost 40 years as a United States District Court wasn't even in session, so it was about the easiest judge in Portland, including service as the chief job I ever heard of.. .." That summer, he also watched judge. His oral history, recorded in 1988 and 1989, Judge James Alger Fee hold trials at the law school. reveals an Oregonian of strong intelligence, inde- Judge Belloni graduated from college in June pendent spirit, and deep compassion. Currently, 1941, and on December 7 of that year the United Judge Belloni is living in a retirement home in Cali- States went to war. "I think everybody who lived fornia to be near his daughter. that period remembers ...where he was on that day. I certainly do," he recalled. "I happened to be at The Early Years my parents home in Myrtle Point and the whole Judge Belloni was born on April 4, 1919 in family listened to the radio broadcast together." Riverton, Oregon, on the banks of the Coquille Soon he volunteered to the draft board, and because River. When he was in sixth grade, his family moved of his pre-medical college training was assigned to to Myrtle Point, where his father ran a small truck- Continued on page 2 ing business. The story of the Belloni family's emigration from the old country is a story of sacrifice and hardship. Judge Belloni's great-grandmother, Maria Belloni, lived in the small mountain village of Gordevio, Switzerland. When she sent her four sons to America, she knew that she would never see them again. Her third son, Georgio (the judge's grandfa- ther), arrived in Northern California wine coun- try, with "a quarter in his pocket and the cap on his head." Georgio married and eventually acquired a ranch in Southern Oregon, where each of the couple's 12 children had a different job. Belloni's father was in charge of transportation, which probably explains his choice of a profession. The judge's hard-working parents strongly en- couraged him to pursue academics, so he was aware, even in high school, that he was destined for larger things. Had anyone suggested that he was to become a United States District Court judge, however, he would have thought "that was a ri- diculous suggestion .... Not that it's the highest of- fice in the world, but it's a pretty high office for a kid from Myrtle Point, Oregon, who is the first in his family ever to graduate from college." Robert Belloni put himself through college at the Judge Belloni (right) with his judicial colleagues Alfred T University of Oregon and planned on attending Goodwin (seated) and Gus J Solomon. SUMMER 1999 HON. ROBERT C. BELLONI CONTINUED Nick Fish and Tae Rhee organized what promised to be a delight- the medical department. Shortly after ful evening at the Pioneer Courthouse on April 22, and it was. It graduating from Officer Candidate is always easier to appear before a judge you know socially, and School, he was sent to the South Pa- the evening at the courthouse provided an opportunity to get to cific and became a young officer in a know 12 of our judges, state and federal. field hospital, commanding approxi- We owe a debt of gratitude to Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, mately 190 men. In the field he saw who was out of the city and unable to join us for the evening but many young men sustain horrible in- introduced Nick to Jackie Bristol of the Ninth Circuit Court of juries. At that point he decided that a Appeals Clerk's Office. Without Jackie's organizational skills and career in medicine was not for him. expert advice we would not have held the event at all, much less Although the war turned Robert toured the historic courthouse from the well-appointed lobby to the cu- Belloni away from a career in medi- pola. Thank you, Jackie, Nick, and Tae, Thanks also to Christy Hylton in cine, it taught him lessons that he the District Court Clerk's Office, Schulte Anderson's Gloria Rhee, my le- would use for the rest of his life. As gal assistant Chris Sanchagrin, and Carolyn Buan, who edits this newslet- an officer, he was often called on to ter and created the elegant invitations. make quick decisions that affected the lives of his troops. That experience, The social at Pioneer Courthouse also provided an opportunity for Judge coupled with the knowledge of his Owen Panner to invite members and friends of the Society to join Mrs. family'S early sacrifices, gave him the Panner and him for a picnic at their ranch. The catered affair is scheduled courage to achieve things in life that for the afternoon of September 12, the Sunday after Labor Day. You will he might not otherwise have achieved. receive a formal invitation soon, but mark your calendar now. "As a matter of fact," he said "most of the decisions I've had to make since While you're at it, mark your calendar for the evening of November 4 have been rather easy ones in compari- as well. Those who attended last year's annual meeting and dinner en- son to those my forebears made and joyed E. Barrett Prettyman's after-dinner address-"Hemingway's House that I made myself during the war." with Castro and Other Vignettes from a Long Career" -and we are plan- After the war, Judge Belloni helped ning another evening of the same caliber this year. I look forward to see- his father run his trucking business ing all of you on November 4. and then became the administrator at McMinnville Hospital, but he found This is my last President's Message, my last opportunity to use this space himself dissatisfied. "I decided to go to express my appreciation publicly to those who have made my associa- to school and for no better reason that tion with the Society so richly rewarding. Were there space enough, I would I can think of than that I couldn't mention each member of the current executive committee and the entire think of anything else to take, I ap- board. I would mention by name every member of all the boards I have plied for admission to law schoo!.... worked with since Don Willner bought me a cup of coffee and asked me Not a very dramatic way to decide to to do a little work on membership eight or nine years ago. Were there go to law school but that's what hap- space enough, I would. pened to me." Judge Ellen Rosenblum will succeed me, and she and the other mem- Despite the accidental nature of the bers of the executive committee will ask us to help expand our member- decision, he loved studying the law. ship, to help with oral histories, and to do the other work of the Society. We missed taking the histories of Clifford Carlsen and Judge William Dale, which should not have happened. With your help, we can minimize lost opportunities in the future. SAVE THE DATES! Sunday, September 12 »r.. 1 to 4 p.m. Join us for a very special picnic at the ranch of Judge and Mrs. Owen M. Panner. You will receive your invitation shortly. Thursday, November 4 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Plan to spend the evening with us for our Annual Meeting and Fall Celebration Dinner. 2 At the University of Oregon Law Norman, because he did more work School, he met Alfred T. Goodwin, than I, but he's the one that named it who ultimately became chief of the for me .... " Judge Belloni considers the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Boys' Ranch one of his greatest two men were in the same class and achievements. became friends. Both served on the Oregon Law Review, with Goodwin An Appointment to the as editor-in-chief. U.S. District Court for Oregon Judge Belloni credits former Oregon Being a Lawyer and Judge Senator Wayne Morse for being in- in Myrtle Point strumental in his appointment to the In the years after law school, Rob- federal bench. After being on the state The southern Oregon coast is the place where ert Belloni built a thriving trial prac- bench for about nine years, Judge Judge Robert Belloni's family settled, where tice in Myrtle Point, won a seat as a Belloni read in the newspaper that he practiced law, and where he became a councilman, became mayor, and Judge William East was taking senior Circuit Court judge. OHS N'g#ORH138680 joined the Coos County Democratic status for health reasons and wrote a Central Committee. As chairman of short letter to Senator Morse, saying found himself with a very heavy the committee, he met Wayne Morse, that he was interested in the position. caseload, trying complex cases. He who would later figure prominently "I never will quite know for sure why was also afraid of Judge Solomon: in his appointment to the federal he settled upon me as the one that he "While I was happy to be on that bench, and Bob Holmes, who would favored," said Judge Belloni.