Abel John McNamara (abt. 1936 - 2014)

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Hon. Abel John "Buddy" McNamara, on Tuesday, December 2, 2014. Loving and beloved husband of Alma Loisel McNamara. Loving father of the late Nancy Ann McNamara Miller (Al), Joni McNamara Parent (the late Benny Parent III), John Price McNamara (Susan), and the late Dwight Loisel McNamara. Preceded in death by his parents, Henry D. McNamara and Ruby Price McNamara. Brother of J. Patrick McNamara and the late Henry D. McNamara Jr. and Sally McNamara Reynolds. Also survived by grandchildren Sarah, Bradley, and Patrick Parent, and Stephanie, Bennett, and Christopher McNamara. Graduate of Jesuit High School, LSU College of Engineering, and Loyola University School of Law. Served three years with the U.S. Navy. Former partner of Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann and Papale. Former state legislator. Retired judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Buddy was a model of integrity and strength in his family and professional lives. His love of fishing and hunting was second only to his love for his family. The family expresses warm gratitude for the loving care of Angie, Deborah, Erica, Foresica, Leslie, Marydith, Rose, and Tiffany, and Passages Hospice (Laurie and Sylvia). Relatives and friends are invited to visitation at St. Angela Merici Church, 835 Melody Dr., Metairie, on Saturday, December 6, 2014 from 10am until the funeral at noon. Interment to follow at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to Wounded Warrior Project, woundedwarriorproject.org or Jesuit High School, http://www.jesuitnola.org/donate/, preferred. The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories, and condolences online, at www.GreenwoodFuneralHome.net. ^[1]

Retired U.S. District Court Judge A.J. "Buddy" McNamara, 78, died Tuesday By Andy Grimm, NOLA.com | Times-Picayune on December 03, 2014 at 6:13 PM, updated December 04, 2014 at 10:15 AM

A.J. "Buddy McNamara, who parlayed a sharp, analytical mind into a three-decades-long career as a federal judge, died at his home in Metairie Tuesday after a long battle with supranuclear palsy. He was 78.

Judge McNamara had a steady engineering job that seemed to suit him fine back in the early 1960s. He also had young children to feed, which is why his wife didn't think much would come of it when McNamara said he was considering law school.

"His brother had started law school, and he said 'Buddy, this is where you need to be,'" Alma McNamara recalled. "When he said he wanted to try it, I thought 'He'll go to bed tonight and that we'll be the last we'll hear of it.'"

It turned out to be the start of a legal career that would culminate with him becoming a federal judge and spending more than three decades on the bench, until his failing health prompted him, reluctantly, to resign three years ago.

Born and raised in New Orleans, McNamara entered politics in Jefferson Parish, where he won election to the state House as a Democrat in 1976, then switched parties mid-term -- becoming one of just six GOP members of the Louisiana House of Representatives at the time -- and did not seek reelection. A successful attorney, McNamara was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the federal bench in 1982. He served as chief judge of the New Orleans-based Eastern District of Louisiana court from 1999 to 2001, when he took senior status.

In the late 1990s, Judge McNamara was assigned the sensitive duty of approving FBI warrants in the "Operation: Wrinkled Robe" investigation of judicial corruption, a probe that targeted judges in Jefferson Parish -- including Thomas Porteous, who had been appointed to the federal bench.

Among his peers, Judge McNamara was respected for his no-nonsense attitude and quiet competence, said U.S. District Judge Peter Beer, who was appointed to the court in 1979 and became McNamara's friend and frequent fishing companion.

"He was just an outstanding partner on the bench, just unusually competent, reasonable and efficient," Beer said. "He was very much a down-to-earth, regular guy."

Judge McNamara met his wife, the former Alma Loisel, while he was a student at Jesuit High School, working as a clerk at her father's Uptown hardware store. She was 14, and Judge McNamara, then 17, often helped her with her math homework.

On their first date, she saw other hints of the analytical intelligence her future husband would turn to the study of engineering, and later to the law and local politics.

"We were driving in his father's car, and he turned the radio to the news station. I didn't know anyone that age that didn't listen to music on the radio," she recalled. "He just liked to know how things worked, what was going on."

Despite her initial belief that his interest in law might be a passing fancy, Alma McNamara soon realized the law was Judge McNamara's passion. He took classes at Loyola Law School at night, earning his degree in 1968 in three and a half years. Away from class, he talked about the law, and cases, constantly.

"It was the love of his life, the law, or the law and fishing," Alma McNamara said. "When he needed to retire because of his failing health, he missed it every day. (Before retirement), he lived it. He talked about it all the time. He ruminated on decisions. It just came out of his pores."

Judge McNamara is survived by his daughter, Joni Tarent, and son, Price McNamara. His daughter, Nancy, and son, Dwight, died in 2014 and 2005, respectively.

Funeral services are set for Saturday at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church in Metairie. Visitation will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, with services to follow. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Jesuit High School or the Wounded Warriors Project.Wounded Warrior Project, or Jesuit High School^[2]

Sources

1940 US Census, New Orleans, LA

Henry D Mcnamara Head M 33 Louisiana

Ruby Mcnamara Wife F 32 Louisiana

Sallie Ann Mcnamara Daughter F 7 Louisiana

Henry D Mcnamara Son M 5 Louisiana

Abel John Mcnamara Son M 3 Louisiana ^[3]

Marriage Record

Name Abel John Mcnamara

Event Type Marriage

Event Date 28 Dec 1957

Event Place Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States

Age 21

Birth Year (Estimated) 1936

Father's Name Henry D Mcnamara

Mother's Name Ruby May Price

Spouse's Name Alma Louise Loisel

Spouse's Age 18

Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1939

Spouse's Father's Name Marion A Loisel

Spouse's Mother's Name Floris Landry ^[4]

1. ↑ http://obits.theadvocate.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?pid=173366703#sthash.GE4atXTQ.dpuf
2. ↑ http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/12/retired_judge_aj_buddy_mcnamar.html
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYPX-1QF : accessed 31 May 2017), Abel John Mcnamara in household of Henry D Mcnamara, Ward 4, New Orleans, New Orleans City, Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 36-95, sheet 65A, line 23, family 320, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1420.
4. ↑ "Louisiana, Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VF4B-KD1 : 4 December 2014), Abel John Mcnamara and Alma Louise Loisel, 28 Dec 1957; citing Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States, parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 4,412,762.