Francis J. Darigan Jr. is a retired Rhode Island politician who has served in numerous public offices–most notably as Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court.

Personal life

Darigan was born in 1942 to an Irish-Catholic family in

South Providence The South Side of Providence, Rhode Island, originally South Providence, is a term frequently used to describe the collective region comprising the official neighborhoods of Upper and Lower South Providence, Elmwood and the West End. The nam ...

, Rhode Island. He graduated from La Salle Academy in 1960 and

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

in 1964 with a degree in political science. From 1965 to 1967, Darigan served as a member of the US Armed Forces at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington DC. Following his discharge from active duty in 1967, Darigan served as a

reserve officer A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...

in the US Army's 76th division, retiring from military service in 1975 with the rank of captain. In 1967, Darigan married Alexandra Hope Kingscote. Darigan received his JD from

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a l ...

School of Law in 1971 and his master's degree in public administration from the University of Rhode Island in 1974. Francis and Alexandra Darigan have four adult children.

Public office

From 1971 to 1975, Darigan served as a council member on the

Providence City Council The Providence City Council is the fifteen-member legislative body of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. The two major responsibilities of the council are enacting ordinances necessary to ensure the welfare and good order of the city and ad ...

, representing the Ninth Ward (including Elmwood, South Providence, and Washington Park). Following his membership on the city council, Darigan acted as legal counsel to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Governor’s Office on Energy, and the Public Utilities Commission. On January 26, 1984, then-Governor

J. Joseph Garrahy John Joseph Garrahy (November 26, 1930 – January 24, 2012), known to Rhode Islanders as J. Joseph Garrahy or just "Joe", was an American politician. He served as the 69th Governor of Rhode Island from 1977 to 1985. Early life Garrahy was born ...

appointed Darigan to the Rhode Island District Court. On June 28, 1991 Darigan was appointed associate justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island by then-governor Bruce Sundlun. Darigan presided over a number of high-profile cases, including the trials of Daniel Michael Biechele of the Station Nightclub Fire and former governor Edwin DiPrete. Darigan served on the court for seven years before his retirement on February 29, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darigan, Francis Jr. 1942 births Living people Superior court judges in the United States Providence College alumni Suffolk University alumni Suffolk University Law School alumni University of Rhode Island alumni La Salle Academy alumni Providence City Council members