R. Thompson, Retired Judge, Dies at Home

Raymond H. Thompson, who wrote the state’s rules on courtroom etiquette while he was an Orange County Superior Court judge, died Wednesday at his home in Fullerton after a lengthy illness. He was 81.

Long known as a stickler for proper courtroom decorum, Thompson surveyed the differing rules each county had for court behavior of judges and lawyers and in 1956 wrote a set of uniform rules that became standard procedure throughout California’s courtrooms.

A 1927 graduate of the USC School of Law, Thompson set up practice in Fullerton as one of about 100 lawyers working in the county. Ten years later, he became the Fullerton city attorney.

When then-Gov. Earl Warren appointed him to the Orange County Superior Court in 1944, Thompson was one of only three judges on the bench. By the time he retired in 1974, the number of Superior Court judges in the county had increased to 32.

Longest-Serving Judge

With 30 years on the bench, Thompson had served on the Superior Court longer than any other judge in the county.

He was a past president of the Orange County Bar Assn. and the Barristers Club of Orange County and was active in civic and community organizations. He was an avid collector of antique cars--a restored 1912 Maxwell was his prize possession--and a charter member of the Horseless Carriage Club of America.

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Thompson moved with his family to Fullerton when he was 7 years old. He graduated from local schools and Fullerton College.

Thompson is survived by his wife, Mary Jane; a son, Tom, of Fullerton; a daughter, Gwen Brickell of Fullerton; a stepson, Dougald Thamer of Carmel Valley; a sister; 11 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

The funeral service will start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Blessed Sacrament Episcopal Church in Placentia. Burial will follow at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton. McAulay & Wallace Fullerton Mortuary is handling the arrangements.