State Appellate Justice Moore Dies of Leukemia : The law: Colleagues hail judge as an inspiration and as a legal scholar with special interest in children’s welfare and probate.

Justice Henry T. Moore Jr. of the 4th District Court of Appeal, a legal scholar with a special interest in children’s welfare and probate law, died Friday morning after a long struggle with leukemia. He was 61.

Despite his illness, Moore refused to give up his work and spent the month of March working from home, said Presiding Justice David G. Sills. Moore had planned to return to court Friday, and news of his death left colleagues saddened.

“He was an inspiration to us all,” said Sills, who was friends with Moore for more than a decade. “He just refused to give in. He was working on his cases and opinions until he took a turn for the worse just a few days ago.”

“I think the one thing that everyone remembers about Hank was his love of the law,” Sills said. “It was his whole life.”

So serious was Moore’s passion for legal scholarship and the law that no detail was too small to catch his eye, Sills said. “It was tough to hold back the tears” when he just recently came across legal papers in which Moore had made a correction in grammar, Sills said.

One of Moore’s most noted opinions came in the case of siblings who were in foster care. The natural parents were considered unfit--but were holding up adoption proceedings by couples who wanted to raise the children.

“Children should not be required to wait until their parents grow up,” Moore said in an oft-quoted ruling. His decision paved the way for the adoptions and has since helped focus child welfare law on the right of the children.

Moore, a Republican, was known for middle-of-the-road views that were based in the law but also reflected common sense. And he was not afraid to stand alone.

In 1992, Moore dissented when the majority dismissed a murder conviction against a drug dealer who sold PCP to a surfer who later drowned.

Moore was in private practice, specializing in probate law, until his 1984 appointment to the Orange County Superior Court bench. He was elevated to the appellate court in Santa Ana in 1988 by then-Gov. George Deukmejian.

Presiding Orange County Superior Court Judge James L. Smith said in a statement that Moore’s reforms in probate court continue to serve as a model.

“He was a legal scholar of wide renown, an extremely productive and creative trial judge and made contributions as a justice of the Court of Appeal that will ensure his place in the legal history of California,” Smith said.

Steven C. McCracken, president of the Orange County Bar Assn., said the printing of Orange County Lawyer--a monthly bar publication--has been postponed so a memorial page honoring Moore can be included.

“What a fabulous person, what a very fine jurist,” said Orange County Superior Court Judge David O. Carter. “He was very well liked by those persons who had the pleasure of appearing before him.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregg L. Prickett, who frequently appeared before the appellate court, recalled Moore as a strong advocate of victims’ rights.

“His facial expressions would always let you know whether he agreed--and he was never afraid to let you know when disagreed,” Prickett said. “He will be missed.”

Justice Moore is survived by his wife, Lynda, and their three adult children, Michael, Kenneth and Laura. Funeral arrangements are pending.