Walter Baranger, Longtime Lawyer in County, Dies

Walter Raymond Baranger, a longtime Orange County attorney with such clients as actor Dick Powell and singer Pat Boone, died Sunday in Waterbury, Conn., from complications of liver cancer. He was 76.

During his career, which spanned 40 years, Baranger represented a number of clients in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. He served as a temporary judge in Municipal Court in Newport Beach and was treasurer of the Orange County chapter of the American Cancer Society during the 1960s.

Born in Los Angeles on Dec. 17, 1917, he graduated from La Verne High School and UCLA. In 1941, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as an officer on destroyers in the Pacific. He took part in the Battle of Midway and in campaigns in the Aleutians, South Pacific and the Philippines. He survived the sinking of the destroyer Worden in the Bering Sea in January, 1943, and later retired as a lieutenant commander after serving as executive officer on the destroyer Abbot.

After the war, he worked as a probation officer in Los Angeles County before attending Loyola University Law School and establishing a law practice in Beverly Hills. He moved his practice to Newport Beach in 1960, specializing in criminal defense and corporate law. He also represented a group of investors who established the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Assn.

Baranger lived in Costa Mesa for five years and in Irvine for 27 years before retiring in 1992 to Southbury, Conn. In his later years, he started an antique business, which often brought him to Southern California for antique shows. He was also an avid amateur radio operator and rock collector.

Baranger is survived by his wife of 40 years, Ann Baranger of Southbury, Conn.; a brother, John D. Baranger of Kenai, Alaska; a son, Walter Baranger Jr. of Fairfield, Conn.; a daughter, Louise Mills of Tampa, Fla.; and three grandchildren.

Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.