Earl C. Latourette

Latourette was born in Oregon City, Oregon, on February 10, 1889, to Charles David Latourette and his wife Sedonia Bird Shaw Latourette.[1] Both parents were pioneer settlers to Oregon.[1] He had three brothers; Mortimer Dillon, Howard Fenton, and John Randolph.

The LaTourette family were French Huguenots who fled persecution and settled in Staten Island, New York in the late 1600's.[2] Family members began moving westward in the 1800's, settling in St. Louis and Michigan. In 1879 LaTourette's father moved from Michigan to Oregon City to form a law partnership with his cousin, Dewitt Clinton Latourette.[3]

LaTourette attended the University of Oregon, where he was on the football[4] and track teams. He was the quarterback on the 1910 Duck football team and scored the winning touchdown to beat what is now Oregon State University, and received All-Northwest Honors for two seasons. Following college, he enrolled at the University of Oregon School of Law, which at that time was located in Portland.[1] He graduated in 1912, and then passed the bar in 1915.[1] Latourette began practicing law in Oregon City after passing the bar, and remained in private practice until 1931.[1]

In 1931, he was appointed as a circuit court judge for Oregon’s 5th judicial district that included Clackamas County, holding that position until 1950.[1][5] During his time on the bench he lived in Oregon City, and in 1936 attended the funeral of fellow judge John Hugh McNary.[6] Then on January 19, 1950 Oregon Governor Douglas McKay appointed Latourette to replace E. M. Page on the Oregon Supreme Court.[7][8] Page had resigned from his position the day before, less than a year after he had been appointed to the court.[8] Later that year Latourette won election to a full six-year term on the bench.[8] Then in 1953 he was selected by his fellow justices to be Chief Justice, serving as Chief Justice until 1955.[8] During this time as Chief Justice, future politician Norma Paulus clerked for him. Latourette encouraged her to attend law school, which she did at Willamette University College of Law.[9] On August 18, 1956, Justice Earl Latourette died in office[8]

On April 30, 1912, Earl C. Latourette married Ruth Steiwer of Fossil, Oregon. Ruth was the daughter of William H. Steiwer, and a member of a prominent political family from Eastern Oregon.[1][10] The couple’s children included daughters Anne Latourette Cook, Jeanne Latourette Linklater and[11] Earl C. "Neil" Latourette, Jr. (d. 1982).[12] Earl C. later married Eleanor Marshall in 1949, and they did not have any children.

• The oldest house in Gearhart, Oregon belonged to the Latourette family beginning in 1926. Earl’s father Charles David Latourette later had his two sons Earl and brother John flip a coin to determine who would inherit the property with John winning the coin toss.[13]
• Justice Latourette donated the land in Oregon City where the Clackamas County Historical Society’s museum is located.[5]