July 6, 1998
Owen P. McGivern, 87, former presiding justice of the Appellate
Division of the New York State Supreme Court, died at the
New
York Medical Center in Manhattan on July 6.
A graduate of St. John's University Law School, he joined the Manhattan law firm
of Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine in 1937. A member of the New York State
Assembly from 1938 until 1950, he served as a lieutenant in the Navy during World
War II,
assigned to the Office of Strategic Services.
In 1950, Mr. McGivern was elected a judge of the Old City Court of New York and
three years later to the State Supreme Court where he served for 14 years. In
1967, Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller appointed him to the Appellate Division and
eight years later Gov. Malcolm Wilson designated him presiding justice. Retiring
from
the bench in 1976, Mr. McGivern rejoined Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine
where he served as counsel until the firm closed this year. Most recently, he
had been associated with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.
During his career, Mr. McGivern served on numerous judicial and municipal committees,
including a temporary commission established in 1975 by Mayor Abraham D. Beame
to study New York
City's fiscal problems. In addition to serving on the board of editors of the
New York Law Journal, he had also been a member of the Center for Public Resources
and an arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association.
A member of the President's Council, Mr. McGivern was the recipient of an honorary
degree at Holy Cross
in 1988.
He is survived by his wife,
Joan; three sons, including Owen L. '69; two daughters; and four grandchildren.
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