Carlos M. Teran
Superior Court judge, WWII officer and interpreter 

Claremont resident Carlos Mendoza Teran, who broke historical ground as the first Mexican American appointed as judge to the Los Angeles Municipal Court, died at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center on June 15, 2009. He was 93.

In 1957, he was appointed to the LA Municipal Court in the East Los Angeles District by Republican Governor Goodwin Knight, then promoted to the LA County Superior Court by Democratic Governor Pat Brown two years later.

For many years, Judge Teran worked at the Pomona Court House from where he retired from in 1979.

“My regret is that my mother never lived to see me as a judge…I am the culmination of her efforts in raising a child but she never saw the end result,” Judge Teran wrote in his biography.

Judge Teran was born in El Paso, Texas in 1915 and, as stated in his biography, remembers “lying in tall grass and watching people work in the fields,” as a child. At age 4, he moved to  Los Angeles with his mother and sister, settling in Silver Lake and enjoying boyhood adventures in the hills there.

He attended Belvedere Elementary School and Junior High School, during which time he studied piano and saxophone, and attended Garfield High School where, at 135 pounds, he played substitute for the first-string, 200-pound captain of the team.

Following courses at Southwestern University and a string of odd jobs after high school, including dish washer, ditch digger for the Southern California Gas Company, mess boy aboard an oil tanker and export manager for a customs house broker, Judge Teran began studying law at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1941 only to be drafted into the military 6 months later.

First trained as a medic—“I remember feeling very relieved that I would be trying to save people instead of killing them,” he once wrote—Judge Teran completed Officers’ Training School and was assigned to the 88th Infantry Division, now known as the Blue Devils.

Later, telling the truth that he spoke Spanish and fibbing about his ability to speak French, he became interpreter to the commanding general of his division. In this capacity, he served in Brazil, Morocco, Africa, Italy and other locations around the world.

As a veteran of WWII, Judge Teran remained active with the US Air Force Reserve and retired with the rank of colonel in 1972. That year, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, the nation’s second highest non-combat award.

Following military service, Judge Teran earned his law degree at the University of Southern California, passed the State Bar Examination and, with his previous experience in the import-export business, became a customs house lawyer at Lawrence, Tuttle and Harper.

While serving with this firm part-time, Judge Teran launched his own practice and, after quick success and the realization that he enjoyed fighting legal battles in court instead of gathering statistics as he did as a member of the firm, he left customs law to enter private practice full time.

He opened an office in East Los Angeles, which led to his judgeship with the East LA Municipal Court in the mid-50s and, subsequently, his appointment to the LA County Superior Court. It was during the early years as a judge that Judge Teran earned a master’s degree in government from the Claremont Graduate School (now University).

In 1955, he married Ellie, and they had two daughters and a son. Though later divorced, they remained friends throughout their lives.

While Judge Teran’s accomplishments are notable, his daughter, Tina Teran Goodman, commented that he always remained humble.

“He never bragged about his accomplishments,” she said. “He did so much for the community, but when he came home, he was just dad. He was bigger than life, but he was just my dad.”

Ms. Teran Goodman also remarked on growing up without prejudice towards others, taught to her and her siblings by their father’s example.

“He could talk to the Supreme Court as a lawyer or he could talk to a gardener,” she said. “He would be the same with everyone.”

Possessing a strong sense of civic duty, Judge Teran was involved in numerous organizations locally and statewide. He was a member of the board of directors for several agencies and institutions including the Greater Los Angeles area United Way, the Council of Mexican-American Affairs, for which he served as president from 1956-60, the Crippled Children’s Society (now Ability First) and Pitzer College. He also served as president of the Welfare Planning Council in the East-Central LA area and was a past “Exalted Ruler” of the Los Angeles Elks Lodge 99.

In his capacity with the courts, Judge Teran often directed troubled juveniles to participate in the local center for boy’s activities in East LA. Upon coming to the Pomona Court House and finding no such center nearby, he, along with several associates, founded the Boys & Girls Club of Pomona Valley.

“He loved to help people,” said Ms. Teran Goodman. “He really was a champion for underprivileged children.”

Judge Teran also enjoyed playing golf, swimming, listening to classical music, reading, spending time with his children and  grandchildren, playing with his animals and exasperating his family with good-natured teasing and unrelenting wordplay.

“He always made us laugh around the dinner table,” said Ms. Teran Goodman.

Judge Teran is survived by his children, Cristina Teran Goodman of Los Gatos,  Michael Teran of Pomona and Suzanne Enriquez of Upland; his wife since 2007, Louise Warren Elliott Teran of Pomona; his grandchildren, Zachary Lester, Alexander Teran and Maria, Sean, Jessica and Troy Enriquez; his sister, Juliette Airey of Santa Barbara; his niece, Dolores Gillmore of New York; and his former wife, Ellie Teran of Claremont.

A Memorial Mass was held on June 19, 2009 at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Claremont. Burial took place at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.