Patch Belmont, MA --Joseph R. Nolan, a "Triple Eagle" who reached the heights of a long-judicial career as a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court where the long-time Belmont resident was known for his conservative views, died peacefully April 23, 2013 at Brighton's St. Elizabeth's Medical Center surrounded by his family.
Nolan was 87. He died of complications of a broken hip he suffered at his home last Saturday.
Recognized as the first judge to serve at every level of the Massachusetts court system, Nolan was the conservative voice on the court that reflected his deep faith and beliefs garnered from a life that embraced the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Born in Mattapan, Nolan graduated from Boston College High School before serving in WWII as a naval pharmacist’s mate in the Pacific. He would return to Boston to graduate from both Boston College and its Law School.
Before this judicial career, Nolan was an assistant district attorney in Boston and the general counsel for the state Lottery Commission as well as teaching law at Suffolk University from 1965 until 2011.
He also co-authored five legal texts and edited two editions of “Black’s Law Dictionary.”
During this time, Nolan and his family – he married Peggy Kelly in 1947 and they would have five daughters and two sons – settled in Belmont which would become his home for the rest of his life.
His first judicial appointment was as a special justice at the Brighton Court in 1973 before being selected to become an associate justice of the Superior Court in 1978.
Two years later, then-Gov. Ed King picked Nolan to the state's Appeals Court. The next year, in 1981, King came to Nolan again, this time appointing him to the state's highest court where he would serve for 14 years before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1995.
His tenure was known for dissenting votes including being the only justice to rule against a gay and lesbian Irish-American group in 1994 to march in South Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day parade. The US Supreme Court used Nolan's dissent as part of its ruling overturning the verdict.
After his retirement, Nolan would become the President of the Catholic Lawyers Guild while continuing to teach at Suffolk. Nolan was also a daily communicant and a devote of the Latin Mass.
Nolan is survived by his wife, Peggy, of 66 years; daughters Jacqueline Nolan of New York, Maura Brown and her husband Harold of Brookline, Martina Alibrandi and her husband Mark of Belmont, Barbara Nolan Bouchie and her husband Albert of Belmont, and Janice Henry and her husband The Hon. Bruce Henry of Belmont, and sons Leonard Nolan and his wife Arlene (Welch) of Winchester, and Joseph Nolan Jr. and his wife Therese (DiGiovanni) of Belmont. He is also survived by 27 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. He is also the brother of the late John Nolan.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, April 27 in St. Joseph’s Church, 124 Common St. Burial was at Highland Meadow Cemetery in Belmont.
Remembrances may be made the to the Reverend Edmund F. Kelly S.J. Scholarship Fund at Boston College High School, 150 Morrissey Blvd, Dorchester, MA 02125 or Street Benedict Abbey, PO Box 67, Still River, MA 01467. Reported by Patch 21 hours ago.