Andrew Patrick O'Rourke (October 26, 1933 – January 3, 2013) was an American

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from New York State. A Republican, he served as the County Executive of

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

from 1982 to 1997. He was the Republican candidate for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

in 1986. During the course of the campaign, he carried a prop—a cardboard cutout of then-incumbent Democratic Gov.

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

, which he used to humorous effect. Nevertheless, Cuomo was re-elected. After stepping down as county executive, O'Rourke was appointed as a judge of the

New York Court of Claims The New York State Court of Claims is the court of the New York State Unified Court System which handles all claims against the State of New York and certain state agencies. Judges Judges of the Court of Claims are appointed by the Governor of ...

. Thereafter he was elected as a justice of the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

and served concurrently as both a justice of the Court of Claims and a justice of the Supreme Court. Subsequently, O'Rourke was on the bench in the Putnam County Supreme Court.

Early life and education

Born in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

, O'Rourke grew up in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His mother was a member of the Sioux Nation and his father was a doctor who died when O'Rourke, the youngest of five children, was just under two years old. He graduated from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

and

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

, and obtained a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

(LL.M.) at

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1965.

1986 New York State gubernatorial Republican ticket

* Governor: Andrew O'Rourke * Lieutenant governor: E. Michael Kavanagh * Comptroller: Edward Regan * Attorney general:

Peter T. King Peter Thomas King (born April 5, 1944) is an American former politician and novelist who represented New York (state), New York in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2021. A member of the Repub ...

* U.S. Senate:

Alfonse D'Amato Alfonse Marcello D'Amato (born August 1, 1937) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and Republican politician who represented the state of New York in the United States Senate from 1981 to 1999. From 1995 to 1999, he chaired the Senate Banking C ...

Author

O'Rourke was the author of two adventure novels: ''The Red Banner Mutiny'' (1985), about an uprising on a Soviet warship, and ''Hawkwood'' (1989), the story of a Vietnam war veteran who tries to escape his involvement with the Mafia.

Personal life

O'Rourke was married to Alice T. McKenna, with whom he had three children: Alice, Aileen, and Andrew Jr. They divorced in 1998 and she died in 2011. He married Flora Lowe, a nurse, in 1999, and they remained married until his death. He died at the age of 79 at Calvary Hospital in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

due to complications of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Andrew 1933 births 2013 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Fordham University School of Law alumni New York (state) Republicans New York Supreme Court justices New York University School of Law alumni People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Politicians from Plainfield, New Jersey Lawyers from Yonkers, New York People from Yorktown, New York Writers from New York (state) Westchester County, New York executives 20th-century New York state court judges