Colleagues Mourn Death of Judge Samuel B. Taylor

SANTA ANA —  Orange County Superior Court Judge Samuel B. Taylor Jr. was remembered by colleagues Monday as a diligent jurist who was respected throughout the local legal community.

Taylor, who had served on the bench for 17 years, died Saturday after suffering a heart attack. Taylor, 58, was stricken after a round of golf with friends at the Big Bear vacation home of Superior Court Judge David G. Sills.

“Everyone is still in a state of shock,” Sills said Monday. “We had finished a game of golf, we’d showered and we were sitting down to dinner when he fell over.”

Taylor never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at Big Bear Community Hospital.

“There’s been a lot of tears around here,” said court clerk Erin Rigby, who worked for Taylor for 5 1/2 years. “It’s been devastating.” A stream of attorneys and other court officers dropped by Taylor’s Department 29 Monday to extend their sympathy, Rigby said.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Leonard Goldstein described Taylor as a “remarkably effective judge” who was known for skillfully helping parties settle cases out of court. In the courtroom, “he tried cases well and quickly. He was a sensible, giving gentleman. There was nothing tyrannical about him. . . . Attorneys asked for him because he treated them respectfully.”

Taylor, who lived in Santa Ana, was appointed a Municipal Court judge in Orange County in 1973 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. He was presiding judge of the Central Orange Municipal Court District in 1977-78.

In January, 1985, Gov. George Deukmejian appointed him to the Superior Court. Taylor presided over both civil and criminal court cases.

Born Sept. 30, 1931, in Richmond, Va., Taylor received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond in 1953. He graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1958 and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1959.

Taylor is survived by his wife of 37 years, Elizabeth Ann, and their four children. He also leaves a brother, a sister and two grandchildren.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Red Hill Lutheran Church in Tustin.