Donald W. Pike 1924-2008
Jurist Fought for Gay Rights Before It Was Popular
By Noah Barron
Daily Journal Staff Writer a commissioner, from 1973 to the
mid-1990s.
"He was a good friend and great
Los ANGELES - Superior
. Cöurt Commissioner Donald colleague. He left a big hole whèn
W. Pike was a self-made millon- he left the bench," Chernow said.
aire, a self-taught thiner who went Pike is survived by his wife,
to law school but never college, Juanita; his two daughters Sharon
an adventurer and a legal pioneer Lawrence and Victoria Pynchon;
who broke ground on gay marriage and two grandchildren. Four of his
rights three decades before it was nine siblings are stil alive, Oscar,
fashiönable. He died in his Los Lois, Dorothy and Kenneth Pike.
Angeles home on his 84th birthday Private memorial services will be
on June 9 from complications from held in Pynchon's Los Angeles home.
Parkinson's disease. Instead of flowers, the famly asks
Back in 1982, the Daily Journal donations be made in Pike's memory
profiled Pike, setting down in print to the Aliance for Chidren's Rights
many of the stories that came to at ww.kids-allance.org.
form the man: his impoverished
beginnings in Nebraska, the fifth of noah_barronlidailyjournal.com
nine children, his family's "Grapes
of Wrath"-esque exodus to Califor-
nia and his early jobs as a child of 14 Los Angeles County Superior Court
working as a farm laborer. Commissioner David W. Pike, Reprints
Before he was appointed commis- shown in an undated photo, had a For Reprints, E.Prints and Frames
sioner to the Los Angeles County legal sensibilty that was ahead of of articles in The Daily Journal,
Superior Court bench, he was a his time, his nephew said. please contact Jeremy Ells at je
milkman, an insurance' salesman, remye(gscooprepri ntsource.com,
his family, Pike said, "I was terribly
a merchant marine in World War (800) 767.3263 Ex. 307 or online
guilty." at ww.scoopreprintsource.com.
II and a lawyer, and then in his 60s
Pike was 35 before he earned his
became a milionaire through his high school equivalency. When he
real estate investments.
set out to startove( in his 30s, he Los Angeles Dally Journal
"I am ridiculously proud of my visited a a psychologist whose IQ (ISSN:0362-5575)
father," Pike's daughter, Victoria Established as a daily newspaper in 1888.
test told him for the first time that Offcial nêwsp~per of the City of Los Angeles
Pike Pynchon, said. "He took and the County of Los Angeles.
he was intellgent. Published daily except Saturdays, Sunday
every opportunity to improve his
"I thought the rich were smart and New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King
station in life and improve the fu- and the poor were dumb," he said Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day,
ture of his children. But he didn't in a 1982 interview.
Independence 'Day, labor Day, Thanksgiving
Day and Christmas Day by Daily Journal
accomplish these things alone. No
"He lived in fear of poverty," his Corporation. 915 East First Street, Los
one does." Angeles, Calif., 90012. (213) 229-5300.
daughter said. Pêriodicals postage paid at Los Angeles,
Pike's marriage collapsed in 1962 Pike wasted no time, passing a California. Adjudicated a newspaper of general
and he moved from Los Angeles to college equivalency test offered by
circulation, Los Angeles Superior Court No.
59775 and B-33522. Additionally adjudicated
Sacramento to start a new life. the State Bar and then attending on June 5, 1954, in Case No. 599382.
Later, presiding over domestic
McGeorge School of Law by night SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One month $85,
three months $228, six months $403 one
cases in Los Angeles, he would say while delivering Dad's Root Beer year $680, plus applicable sales tax.
that his failed marriage gave him by day, sending support checks POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
special insight into family woes. home all the while. He passed the Los Angeles Daiiy Journal, P.. Box 54026, Los
Angeles, California 90054-026.
"Having had two marriages helps
Bar Exam on his first attempt. Filings are taken from public records as
me understand family law," he said Gary Pike, the commissioner's a convenience for our subscribers and
in a 1982 Daily Journal profile. nephew, said that while Pike was
republished without prejudice or liabilit.
The Los Angeles Daily Journal is not
Pynchon said she was deeply practicing civil law, he drafted responsible for errors and omissions. Under
hurt. when Pike left home but re- contracts for gay men and women
no circumstances wil any matter of record be
withheld from publication in this paper.
connected with him as an adult, that emulated the rights of married This newspaper does not assume
becoming a lawyer herself and couples.
responsibilty for the views expressed in
published correspondence or contributed
watching him on the bench. She The work reflected a legal sen- notes or articles.
said he sometimes grew emotional sibilty decades ahead of its time, Material published in the Los Angeles Daily
Journal is compiled at substantial expense and
dUring custody battles. Gary Pike said. is for the sole ahd exclusive use of subscribers.
"He would call a recess whenever Retired Los Angeles County The material may not be republished, resold, or
used in any manner, in whole or in part, without
he was going to burst into tears/' Superior Court Judge Eli Chernow the consent of the publisher. Any infringement
she said. In describing his leaving worked with Pike when Pike was will be SUbject of legal redress.
~:_:.,,~.I.,