Owen Murphy Panner (July 28, 1924 – December 19, 2018) was an American attorney and jurist from

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

who served as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union ...

Early life

Panner was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

to a geologist father. The family, which included two sisters, moved to Oklahoma, where Panner grew up in the town of Whizbang.Van Meter, Heather
Judge Owen Panner: From Whizbang to the Bench.
''Oregon Benchmarks'', Spring 2003. Retrieved on June 9, 2008. His father worked in the oil fields as Owen grew up in the Great Depression and

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

. In his youth he was an amateur golfer and won several titles. After high school, he enrolled at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, but left after two years in 1943 to join the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and the war effort, serving from 1943 to 1946. In the Army he received an engineering education at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

before more schooling in transportation. Panner was then stationed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he worked on the docks coordinating shipments and where he met his first wife Agnes. They married and had their first child in 1946. The family was transferred to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where Panner coordinated shipments to Europe after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After his discharge he entered the

University of Oklahoma College of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Oklahoma. It is located on the University's campus in Norman, Oklahoma. The College of Law was founded in 1909 by a resolution of the OU Boa ...

, where he graduated in 1949 with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

Legal career

Panner moved to

Central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards ...

in 1949. In 1950 he entered private legal practice in Bend,

, where he remained until 1980. From 1971 to 1974 he was on the Judicial Reform Commission of Oregon. While in Bend he worked for a variety of clients, including as general counsel for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Due to his work for the tribe, he was offered, but declined, the position of Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. A trial lawyer, he became a fellow of the

American College of Trial Lawyers The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially trial ...

and was named trial attorney of the year in 1973 for Oregon by the American Board of Trial Advocates.Lewis & Clark Law School: The Honorable Owen M. Panner.
Lewis & Clark College. Retrieved on June 9, 2008. Panner was also vice president of the

Oregon State Bar The Oregon State Bar Association (OSBA) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulat ...

and a member of the board of governors of the organization from 1961 to 1963, as well as president of the Central Oregon chapter.

Federal judicial service

On December 3, 1979, President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

nominated Panner for a seat on the

after Judge Otto Richard Skopil Jr. was elevated to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

. Panner was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on February 20, 1980 and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge for the court from 1984 to 1990, and took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on July 28, 1992. In 1987, he was named

Lewis & Clark Law School The Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College (also known as Lewis & Clark Law School), is an American Bar Association-approved private law school in Portland, Oregon. The law school received ABA approval in 1970 and joined the As ...

’s distinguished honorary alumni.

Later years

After assuming senior status, Panner continued to work for the court on a reduced schedule. The Oregon State Bar's litigation section presents an annual award for professionalism in honor of Panner. He had four children and later remarried to Nancy. Panner was a trustee of

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...

, a former president of the Bend Chamber of Commerce, and a past president of the Oregon Historical Society. He died on December 19, 2018, in Medford, where he had resided in his later years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panner, Owen Murphy 1924 births 2018 deaths Oregon state court judges University of Oklahoma alumni West Virginia University alumni Lawyers from Chicago Military personnel from Chicago People from Bend, Oregon People from Osage County, Oklahoma Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges Lewis & Clark College people