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Farewell To A Son Of Red Bank - Former Supreme Court Justice Dan O'Hern dies at 78
By John Burton
RED BANK - Daniel J. O'Hern Sr., who died last Wednesday, was a lawyer who rose to the ranks of a state Supreme Court justice and who seemed to never forget that the law was there to help and protect people, especially those most in need of its protection; and a political force who never let politics overshadow convictions, this week recalled some who have known him during his long and sterling career.
O'Hern, 78, retired state Supreme Court justice and former borough mayor and councilman, who would go on to hold numerous positions in the state, died last Wednesday from a cancerous brain tumor, according to the family. O'Hern was born in Red Bank and attended St. James Roman Catholic Grammar School, before moving on to Regis High School, a Jesuit-run school, in New York City. Later O'Hern would graduate with honors from Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y., and go on to serve in the U.S. Navy before attending and graduating Harvard Law School.
According to his family, O'Hern then became a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr., and the two remained friends for the remainder of Brennan's life.
With those experiences, O'Hern could have parlayed his education and connections into a high paying "white shoe" law firm somewhere, those spoken to for this story all acknowledged. But the Red Bank boy decided to return to Monmouth County, taking to heart advice bestowed upon him by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, who told the young O'Hern that young lawyers should return to their hometowns and serve their communities "It took a man of his character, his stature, that could have achieved enormous personal wealth and success outside of the area, in major metropolitan cities around the country to decide to come back and plant his roots where he was born," this week noted current Mayor Pasquale Menna.
O'Hern had served on the Borough Council from 1962-1968 and then was mayor until 1978. While on council, O'Hern, a Democrat, had served with Dr. Michael Arnone, a Republican, who would follow O'Hern into the mayor's office. The two grew up together on the borough's west side and attended school together, Arnone recalled this week, noting their friendship, which continued into their political careers, even with their differing political associations.
"Politics wasn't that much of a contact sport as it is now," Arnone said, recalling that the mayor and the council would regularly go out for pizza and beer following the council meetings.
Arnone would become mayor and would serve in the Assembly for many years. He acknowledged that O'Hern, "had a much harder row to till than I did," as mayor.
O'Hern would serve during the late '60s and 1970s, a time of racial and civil strife here in New Jersey and across the country. "He was our community leader at a time when there was a lot of trouble in the community," said Edward J. McKenna Jr., a former mayor. "He brought us out of it and calmed everybody down and brought everybody together."
"We shared some of those situations together," Arnone said. "He, of course, was a calming influence, and that was exactly what was required at that time."
His work and demeanor at the time, McKenna and others noted, spared the borough some of the turmoil that other communities suffered.
O'Hern developed a friendship with then Democratic Governor Brendan T. Byrne, and was an earlier supporter of Byrne's bid for the nomination, Arnone remembered. Byrne named O'Hern to serve as commissioner for the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and then as the Governor's Special Counsel, before Byrne nominated him to the state's highest court.
O'Hern, who was named to the court in 1981, served there for 19 years, until reaching 70-the mandatory retirement age.
McKenna, a lawyer, said of O'Hern's tenure on the court, "I think what he should be remembered for was his respect for human dignity."
"He was prepared to take a position, regardless if he was in the majority or not, to speak his mind as to what he thought the purpose of the law was," McKenna said. "The purpose of the law was to make sure everyone was treated fairly, that everyone had an opportunity in life."
"His philosophy was that we have an obligation, those of us who have been given a little bit more in life, to lift up those who need our assistance," Menna observed.
James Zazzali, Rumson, filled the vacancy on the court when O'Hern retired. "But I could not replace him," Zazzali insisted, "because Dan O'Hern was irreplaceable. I simply succeeded him."
Zazzali and O'Hern appeared to share a jurisprudence philosophy, which comes through as Zazzali talked about his predecessor. "And his opinions always emphasized fairness," Zazzali added. "And if that means 'activism' in the minds of a few, the state and the people are all the better for it."
O'Hern, who moved to Little Silver, would continue to serve his profession, his community and state in various capacities, and was named as special ethics counsel for Acting Governor Richard J. Codey. O'Hern worked in private practice, working along- side his son Daniel J. O'Hern Jr. for about five years, at the firm's Shrewsbury offices.
"I think he will be remembered as a man who cared deeply about people," said Daniel O'Hern Jr. "He was one of those unique individuals who had the ability to relate to and connect with everybody."
"To him everybody was a special person. He treated everybody with that common touch." The junior O'Hern continued.
"I think that would be his great legacy."
McKenna, who went on to be the borough's longest serving Democratic mayor, considered O'Hern a mentor, and the one responsible for McKenna's entry into politics, first by appointing him to the Parks and Recreation Committee in 1978 and then later talking McKenna into running for borough council. But one of the most important lesson's O'Hern bestowed on McKenna concerned keeping priorities straight.
"Remember, always place your family first, your business second, politics third," McKenna said recalling the message. "I always used that as my personal code. You have to keep things in perspective."
"His life was an open book," added Menna, who, like McKenna, knew O'Hern for most of his life. "And there wasn't a bad passage in that open book."
"He was part of the fabric of our society," Menna noted. "But a hallmark of that fabric was his civility and his decency and that could have only come from his innate belief in the humanity of our Creator and living that life."
Four of O'Hern's children followed him in the study of law, with his youngest daughter becoming an educator, his son said, noting the role their father played in their lives. "He impacted us all in many ways," O'Hern said.
During their conversations, McKenna said he and O'Hern would often observe that no one is irreplaceable, whether it is in politics or life. "But," McKenna interjected this week while being interviewed for this story, "he may be the exception."
