Joseph W. Chandler, 86; Former Judge in Santa Monica Court

Joseph W. Chandler, former presiding judge of the Santa Monica Municipal Court and a judge on that bench for more than two decades, has died at the age of 86.

Chandler died Thursday in Santa Monica of pneumonia, his family said.

Appointed to the court in 1969 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, Chandler heard his share of the lower court’s cases emerging from social changes on the well-to-do Westside in the 1970s and ‘80s -- bans on nude sunbathing, drug possession, rent control, condominium conversions and drunk driving. The miscreants who appeared before him often included the rich and famous.

Although Chandler officially retired in 1991 when he was 75, he continued to sit by special appointment on various municipal, superior and appellate courts for the next five years.

After he was appointed judge, Chandler easily won reelection to six-year terms until his own decision to step down. Known for his legal skill, integrity, fairness and wit on the bench, he was chosen six times by his colleagues to serve as presiding judge, administering the Santa Monica court.

Born in Newark, N.J., Chandler graduated with honors in economics from the College of the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, he earned his law degree at Rutgers University, where he was associate editor of the law review.

Admitted to the California bar in 1948, he practiced civil law privately and worked as a lawyer for the Metropolitan Water District before becoming a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney in 1951. Over the following two decades, he worked primarily as a trial prosecutor, handling several Santa Monica-area murder cases.

Within the community, Chandler headed or served on boards of Santa Monica chapters of the Navy League, National Conference of Christians and Jews, Kiwanis Club, Salvation Army and American Red Cross.

Chandler is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nena, a former Miss Italy and an actress and dancer; two daughters, Julie Prettyman and Suzanne Chandler; and one grandson.