Hundreds mourn Mowbray

      At a civil rights gathering in Las Vegas in the early 1960s, John Mowbray stood in front of a large crowd of blacks, leading them in the singing of the national anthem.
      At a time when it was highly unusual for white public officials in Las Vegas to make such an appearance, the man who was later to become a Nevada Supreme Court justice stood tall and sang proudly. At day's end, many at the gathering, shocked at Mowbray's presence, personally expressed to him their appreciation.
      One of those individuals was civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
      "To those who are cynical and timid about public service, he (Mowbray) would say 'Do your best and the world will take care of itself,' " Washoe County District Judge Brent Adams said Saturday morning at funeral services for Mowbray. "Everything he did shined with integrity."
      Mowbray died Wednesday at a Las Vegas hospital at the age of 78 after fighting diabetes-related illnesses for five weeks.
      As the Knights of Columbus escorted his copper casket from Guardian Angel Cathedral on East Desert Inn Road, some 200 friends, loved ones and public officials reminisced about his accomplishments.
      There was the establishment of Clark County's first public defender's office in 1966; the reduction of a large court caseload that revitalized an ailing legal system; and passage of the state's first law to protect abused children.
      "I don't think you can pinpoint just one individual instance when you consider his accomplishments because there were so many," Gov. Bob Miller said moments after the 2 1/2-hour services were done. "This is a bittersweet moment, because there were so many beautiful words spoken, so many beautiful voices, music and memories. But it is bittersweet because John is not here to enjoy it."
      Saturday's services revealed a side of Mowbray not often acknowledged publicly. Retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Pete Giannini told of one incident decades ago in which Mowbray encountered a newly arrived immigrant from Japan. The man, who spoke only fragmented English, was sleeping on the ground at a Las Vegas gas station.
      Mowbray, who spoke fluent Japanese due to his military training for World War II, started a conversation and learned of the immigrant's plight. Within days Mowbray had found him a job and a room at a local boardinghouse.
      In Mowbray's 33 years on the bench, including 25 years on the Supreme Court and eight years as a Clark County District Court judge, he was known for fighting for the underprivileged. He was also credited for the decision to allow cameras in Nevada courtrooms.
      "Is he really gone?" Giannini asked mourners. "For he will live on in the hearts of all of us, a man of many truly noble deeds."
      Mowbray was born in Bradford, Ill. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps for five years in World War II before leaving the military with the rank of major.
      He graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School, where he met his wife, Kathlyn. He started his legal career as a prosecutor with the Clark County district attorney's office.
      Mowbray served as a bankruptcy judge. In 1959 he was appointed to the District Court bench, where he was nationally recognized for reducing case backlogs. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967. He won four elections in the next 25 years.
      He was known for being outspoken at hearings and often putting his personal views into judicial opinions.
      In his later years on the bench, he found himself in the middle of a feud with fellow Justices Charles Springer, Thomas Steffen and Robert Rose and one former justice, E.M. "Al" Gunderson. He was accused of not being able to perform his duties, in part because of glaucoma, and retired in 1992 at the age of 74.
      "John would want me to say if anyone had been offensive to him in his lifetime, he would easily forgive them," Giannini said, adding Mowbray would also ask for forgiveness from any of his adversaries.
      Friar Francis Timoney, who led the services before Mowbray's burial at Paradise Memorial Gardens, asked those in attendance not to be sorrowful.
      "He would say, 'Release me, let me go. I have so many things to see and do. You must not tie yourself to me in tears. ... I thank you for the love you have shown but I must go on alone,' " Timoney said.