Donald Earl Van Luven Jr., 84
Judge Donald Earl Van Luven Jr., 84, passed away peacefully at his home in Santee, California, on July 3, 2021, surrounded by his sons Adrian and Mark and grandchildren Ross and Dana. As per his wishes, he was cremated and will be scattered at sea along with his wife Ruth Ann’s remains. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Ronald Reagan Library, 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065.
Judge Van Luven was born in San Bernardino, California, in 1936. He graduated from San Bernardino High School 1954, and attended San Bernardino Valley College. Also, he and his beloved and surviving brother Ronald Van Luven honorably served in the United States Army. He then transferred to UC Berkeley and obtained his degree in English, after which he was accepted into UC Hastings College of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1965.
Judge Van Luven then worked in private practice briefly before joining the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office as an assistant district attorney. In December 1974, he was appointed to the bench of the San Bernardino Municipal Court, by then Gov. Ronald Reagan. He sat on the bench of the Municipal Court until being elevated to the Superior Court by Governor George Deukmejian in 1986.
During his lengthy tenure on the bench of the Superior Court, Judge Van Luven served in every courthouse in the County of San Bernardino. He presided over the criminal courts, family law courts and the juvenile courts during his time on the bench.
He was very patriotic and deeply proud, but not of the many accolades he received, but by the small changes he made to make America better. He loved to tell the story of through hard work and self determination he was able to turn his life around from being a young thug, leading him to implement a work toward release program for inmates who otherwise were unproductive just sitting in jail. This was a novel concept in that period of time.
His closing years found him in Montana where he enjoyed his time with his wife and grandkids, continued to win championships in skeet and trap shooting, and supported the Republican party proudly. Upon his treatment needs for lung cancer, he returned to California, “right back where we started from” as the song goes. A great man has left us. Amen.