NYS Supreme Court Justice John Dunne dies

Retired Nassau State Supreme Court Justice John P. Dunne, of Manhasset, a former North Hempstead Town Board member and Republican town leader, died Christmas Day at the Sands Point Health and Rehabilitation Center after suffering from pneumonia and other complications of dementia. He was 82.

One of Dunne's most controversial decisions came in 2003, when he upheld the right of one member of a Vermont domestic partnership to bring a wrongful death action in New York for the death of his partner, said Dunne's son, John, of Stamford, Conn.

"He got a lot of heat for that," said his son. Referring to a quote by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes -- "This is a court of law . . . not a court of justice" -- the younger Dunne said, "I think my father sometimes looked at it the other way: 'Let me try to achieve justice even if I have to bend the law a little bit.' Ultimately, that was the side he came down upon whether it was a popular side or not."

The elder Dunne was born in Brooklyn, but his family soon moved to Manhasset, where he lived most of his life.

He was an Army infantryman during the Korean War, earning a Purple Heart after he was struck by shrapnel from exploding land mines.

Nassau Legis. Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park), who is married to Dunne's daughter Susan, said his father-in-law didn't talk much about the war but did wonder why he survived when soldiers to the left and right of him were killed that day.

"He had a life of tremendous achievements," Nicolello said. "He was a good man and a good father and grandfather."

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Dunne attended Georgetown University Law School on the GI Bill and then practiced law on Long Island. He married his wife, Sally, in 1962 and became involved in Republican politics. By 1974, he was a member of the North Hempstead Town Board and also GOP leader of the then-Republican-controlled town.

He served as a Nassau County Court judge from 1991 until 1996, when he was appointed by Gov. George Pataki to State Supreme Court. Dunne was subsequently elected to the job and served until he was required to retire at age 76, his son said.

Besides his wife, son John and daughter Susan, Dunne is survived by daughter Sarah Loftus of Middletown, N.J.; son Thomas of upstate Niskayuna; sisters Gladys Ernest of Temecula, Calif., Margaret Zebrowski of Alexandria, Va., and Patricia Keane of Coram; and a brother, Richard of Manasquan, N.J.

Visiting is scheduled for Thursday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fairchild Funeral Chapel, Manhasset. A funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Manhasset will be followed by burial at the Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington.

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In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation in Port Washington or to St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn.