Phillip Stephen Cronin

Phillip S. Cronin died on September 29 from complications related to Parkinson's. He leaves his beloved wife of 52 years, Irene. He was a proud father to his daughters, Nicole (Raymond) Tittmann and Noëlle (Adam) Mering. He leaves twelve grandchildren, six from Nicole: Maximilian, Madeleine, Maria Lucia, Phillip, Charles, and Leo Henry. His six grandchildren from Noëlle are: Abigail, John Henry, Campion, Caroline, Vivienne, and Vera. He is survived by his sister, Joan Butterfield of Walnut Creek, CA. He was preceded in death by his brother, James Christopher. Phillip was born October 21, 1938 in San Francisco, California where he attended Sacred Heart Preparatory before going on to Seattle University. During this tenure, he worked as Public Relations man for the Seattle World's Fair. He graduated with a BA in Philosophy and English Literature. He enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the USS Fred T. Berry. He was honorably discharged May 1969. He ran the USO in Nha Trang, Vietnam. He met and married Irene in June 1970. He graduated from UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco in 1972 and soon found work as Deputy A.G. (Sacramento) handling writs and criminal appeals at the trial level. He worked five years as Deputy D.A. (San Mateo). He then worked as Supervising Attorney for the Tulare County DA's Office. In 1980, he prosecuted criminal defendants as Assistant U.S. Attorney (Fresno) before he became a Civil Litigator with a private law firm in Visalia. He left to join the law firm, Young, Wooldridge Law (Bakersfield) as Senior Trial Attorney in complex litigation cases. His last position in law was as Fresno County Counsel where he supervised and managed a large staff of attorneys and support staff. He retired May 2004. As a retiree, he did part-time work as a professor of law. He began a Great Books course as well as joined others in the study of great literature. He also donated his time teaching at a local school. He loved chess, tennis, Shakespeare, and Fulton Sheen. He was a dedicated attorney, a voracious reader, and a devout Catholic. He will be missed.