Retired judge had passion

Retired Orange County Superior Court judge and former Costa Mesa resident Donald E. Smallwood died Thursday from complications from a surgery to remove a tumor from his esophagus. He was 81.

He lived in Costa Mesa for nearly 30 years until 1990, when he moved to Laguna Woods.

He was a member of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s board of trustees and former head of the Mesa Verde Homeowners Assn., said his son, Mark Smallwood.

Hailing from Detroit, Donald Smallwood got his degree from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and started his practice in Newport Beach.

“He set up his first office in a converted garage near Fashion Island,” Mark Smallwood said. “It was a house in the middle of nowhere. He only had one chair, so he sat on a milk crate.

“If he really wanted something, he just went for it. He grew up in the Depression and had that drive that people coming out of that time did.”

Donald Smallwood was an Army private from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean War and was appointed to the bench in 1984. During his time in the Army, he worked in Nevada, Mark Smallwood said. He saw seven nuclear bombs tested, he said.

“It got to the point where during the old duck-and-cover drills in case of a nuclear bomb, I’d be thinking ‘this is pointless,’ because of what my dad told me,” he said with a laugh. “He was really just an upfront guy. He didn’t pull any punches.”

Donald Smallwood had a passion for family law, and after retiring as a judge, acted as an arbitrator in civil cases, Mark Smallwood said. He was recognized by a local nonprofit organization for his work on behalf of battered women.

“That was a big thing for him,” Mark Smallwood said.

He loved camping and skiing and had a pilot’s license.

“He wanted to live life and try things. That was his whole thing. He just wanted to try everything he possibly could and do it as well as he possibly could,” Mark Smallwood said. “He was a character, I’ll tell you. You just loved the guy if you got to know him. He was a good man.”

He is survived by his wife, Susan; daughter, Cheryl Cohen; and sons Mark, Tom and David Smallwood.