John Hadden Halpin Jr.

Retired Superior Court Judge Jack Halpin passed away peacefully in his sleep early on the morning of May 19, 2026, at 100 years of age.

Jack was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey on February 24, 1926, to John Hadden Halpin, Sr., and Josephine Roll Halpin. Jack was the first born of four children, he had two brothers, Robert Thornbury (1927) and William Curtis (1930) and one sister, Sally Halpin (1934). They have all passed.

Jack was married three times during his life. His first wife was Ophelia Ann Leszhiewicz in 1945 with whom he had three children, John, Sandra, and Sally. He married Sydney J. Morgan in 1950 and had three more children, Tom, Shelly, and Martha. He married Joanne Clark in 1966, and subsequently adopted her two children, Michelle and Robin.

Jack entered the US Marine Corps in 1943 when he was 17 years of age. Jack was chosen to remain stateside to assist in the development of relevant innovative technology, radar. He was immensely proud of his participation in developing technology that guided, monitored, and detected defense systems.

Jack returned home in 1945 and graduated from Dartmouth College with honors in 1947. After a brief teaching stint at both Dartmouth and Harvard, teaching political science, Jack decided that law was his true calling.

He packed up his young family and moved to California to attend Stanford Law School, where he graduated in 1952. While there he served as the editor of the Stanford Law Review.

Upon graduation, Jack and his wife Sydney move to Redding. They established the law firm of Halpin and Halpin in 1953. They remained in this practice from 1953-1962.

From 1962-1964 Jack became a Shasta County Superior Court Judge. He made history by being the youngest superior court judge to ever be seated in the State of California.

From 1964-1965 he was appointed as the Chief Deputy Director of Finance for the State of California. After completing his term, Jack moved back to Redding and worked as a trial judge from 1965-1973.

In 1973 Jack was recruited to be a managing partner for litigation at the Honolulu Law Firm of Carlsmith, Carlsmith, Wichman and Case, Hawaii’s oldest law firm. He stayed with them until 1982.

During the years of 1982-1991 Jack balanced working as a trial lawyer for the states of New York (where the family summer home was located) and California. Jack was assigned as a full-time judge to various California Superior Courts for the remainder of his career (1991-2014).

All and all Jack oversaw over five hundred jury trials as an attorney in New York, Hawaii, and California. He presided over four hundred jury trials as a superior court judge, including fifteen felony strike cases.

Throughout his life the sports that Jack loved and participated in were rowing, sailing, and surfing. On a lazy Sunday, you would find him watching football and golf.

Jack is survived by his children John, Robin, Tom, Sandra, Sally, Shelly, and Michelle, as well as many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A graveside service in honor of Jack will be held at 10am on Friday, June 12th at Redding Memorial Park located at 1201 Continental St in Redding.

All are welcome to attend.