Jesse E. Fluharty; Retired Judge

Jesse E. Fluharty, retired workers’ compensation judge and attorney, has died at a Glendale hospital. He was 76.

A longtime Glendale resident, Fluharty died Thursday of a stroke, said his son Stephen Fluharty.

Born in San Antonio, he came to California as a child. He graduated from San Diego High School in 1934 and later from the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles.

Fluharty worked as a photographer for the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation before serving in the U. S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. A staff sergeant, he was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in the Philippines.

Fluharty graduated from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in 1951 and went into private practice in Sacramento. In 1960, he became presiding judge of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board in Stockton and in 1967 was appointed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan as workers’ compensation presiding judge in Southern California.

Over the next 22 years, Fluharty was a judge and presiding judge in workers’ compensation matters in Los Angeles and Long Beach. From 1983 to 1989, he divided his time between being a workers’ comp judge and an attorney in private practice in Glendale and Los Angeles.

In the mid-1970s, Fluharty was president of the Lawyers Club of Los Angeles County, which named him Judge of the Year in 1982. As president of the Chevy Chase Homeowners Assn. from 1971 to 1977 and the Glendale Hills Coordinating Council from 1977 to 1979, Fluharty advocated preserving open space.

In addition to his son, Fluharty is survived by his wife of 47 years, Ernestine Fluharty.

A funeral is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today at the First Congregational Church of Glendale, 2001 Canada Blvd. Burial will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. Kiefer & Eyerick Mortuary in Glendale is handling the arrangements. Contributions can be made in Fluharty’s name to the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children or to a charity of the donor’s choice.