William Reppy, 92; Ruled on Appellate Court Cases

William Reppy, former judge of the Los Angeles-based 2nd District Court of Appeal, died Saturday at his home in Montecito near Santa Barbara of congestive heart failure. He was 92.

Reppy was named to the appellate bench in 1968 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan and, although he retired in 1972, continued to handle appellate cases by special appointment for many years.

Born in Ventura, he grew up in Beverly Hills, where he was one of the first students of the new Beverly Hills High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Stanford and a law degree at USC, where he was editor of the Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif.

Reppy established his law practice in Oxnard, interrupted it to serve in the Army during World War II and later became Oxnard city attorney.

Then-Gov. Goodwin Knight appointed Reppy to the Ventura County Superior Court in 1955 and, when the county opened a branch court in Oxnard, Reppy became its first judge. In 1997, the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Assn. honored the former judge by hanging his portrait in Ventura County Superior Court.

In retirement, Reppy was president of the Friends of the Montecito Library. A benefactor of Stanford, he was also on the board of visitors for its law school.

Reppy is survived by his wife of 65 years, Margo, and sons William Jr. of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Michael of Mill Valley.

The family has suggested that, instead of flowers, memorial donations be sent either to the Friends of the Montecito Library, P.O. Box 5788, Santa Barbara, CA 93150, or the Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara County, 222 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101.