Justice Harry F. Brauer

Harry F. Brauer, son of Heinrich Brauer and Frieda Friedlander Brauer, born April 25, 1926 in Kreuzberg, Germany, died May 5, 2023 in Green Valley, Arizona. He was a former resident of San Francisco, Watsonville, Corralitos, Ben Lomond, and Santa Cruz, California.?Harry was born in the small town of Kreuzberg , Germany. He escaped the Nazis with his parents in 1939 at age 12. They left the family liquor factory, their home and all their possessions, eventually getting visas to the Philippines. When Japan invaded in 1941, his world was once again changed overnight. During the occupation, Harry used a forbidden radio to convey the BBC news to his neighbors. When the Allies took over in 1944, the elder Brauers were back in business and the demand for liquor was so great that they were soon able to pay for Harry's passage to the States. He enrolled in the University of Chicago and then Yale. After five years of what he described as "marvelous intellectual ferment," he received his law degree in 1951. Drafted into the army, he served as an attorney in the Judge Advocate's Office at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, where he met his wife Georgia. They married in 1953 and moved to Watsonville, where Harry joined the firm of Wyckoff, Parker, Boyle and Pope. Harry was appointed to the Santa Cruz County (Watsonville) Municipal Court by Governor Pat Brown in 1961. Enjoying the small town life, Harry was often seen playing dominoes at the Elks Club, or making his weekly trip to the Watsonville Public Library. In 1973, he was appointed by Governor Reagan to the Santa Cruz County Superior Court, where he was known for upsetting unprepared lawyers and for the occasional humorous mixed metaphor, as well as for presiding over the trial of a certain notorious serial murderer. His gruff reputation was balanced by self-deprecating humor, often about his small stature. Harry was appointed by Governor Deukmejian to the newly created Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose in 1984. He served happily there, writing pithy and trenchant opinions, retiring in 1989. Outside the courtroom Harry loved to hike and climb mountains, often pointing out that he kept up with people half his age. He loved classical music and fishing in the Sierra Nevada at his favorite place, Salmon Lake. In 1998 he moved to southern Arizona, spurred by the birth of his favorite (and only) grandchild. He continued to be a fitness nut well into his 90's, hiking the trails in Madera Canyon near Green Valley, Arizona.?Harry is survived by daughter Holly P. B. Finstrom, son-in-law Matthew F. L. Finstrom, and granddaughter Ariel D. Finstrom, all of Tucson, Arizona, and niece Romelle Parsons and great-niece Julia Parsons of Antioch, Ca. Harry's wife Georgia died in 2016.??A memorial is planned for February 2024 in Aptos, Ca. For information please contact the family at email bambooranch@juno.com

Donations in his memory may be made to the Dispute Resolution Fund of the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County 7807 Soquel Dr. Aptos, CA 95003

Published in The Pajaronian · November 2, 2023