Richard D. Love; Ventura County Judge

Richard D. Love, a Ventura County jurist for 25 years, died this week at his home in Ojai. He was 67.

Love, who served on the Ventura County Municipal Court from 1966 to 1981, died Tuesday, about three months after he was found to have lung cancer, family members said.

A graduate of the University of California’s Hastings College of Law, Love was 30 when he was appointed to the Ojai Justice Court in 1955. The part-time job allowed him to continue practicing law in Ojai until 1966, when justice courts were consolidated with the Ventura County Municipal Court. He began a full-time career on the bench.

“He was a blue-collar judge, just a regular guy,” said Steven Z. Perren, presiding judge of the Superior Court. “If you went into a small community, he was the kind of judge you would expect to find.”

He was known for an eagerness to resolve cases. “He never met a case he couldn’t settle,” Perren said.

Love retired from the bench in 1981 at age 55, saying he felt burned out. “It was a hard, hard job,” said Love’s daughter, Nancy Schaef of Ventura.

In Ojai, where he lived all his life, Love was once known for a wild-animal collection that included three cougars, two bears and two chimpanzees, Schaef said.

An Army veteran, he was awarded the Purple Heart and other commendations for service during World War II. On Christmas Eve, 1944, he was aboard a Belgian ship ferrying U.S. troops to the Battle of the Bulge when it was sunk by a German torpedo.

Love spent three hours in the English Channel before being rescued, his daughter said.

“Every Christmas Eve he would tell that story,” Schaef said.

In retirement, Love tended his rose garden and cared for a collection of tropical fish. Schaef said her father had considered returning to law practice but instead chose to spend time with his first wife, Shannon-Marie, who was battling cancer. She died in 1991.

In addition to Schaef, survivors include Love’s second wife, Fran; and sons Richard and Roger Love. Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai is handling arrangements.