Joyce L. Kennard

Josephine "Joyce" Luther Kennard, who rose from wartime Indonesia and a Los Angeles secretarial desk to become the first Asian American justice of the California Supreme Court, died in September 2026. She was 85. The Judicial Branch of California announced her death on September 18, 2026. An exact calendar day of death was not published in the court memorial. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero called her life a testament to resilience and said her rigor on the bench and extraordinary personal journey continue to inspire attorneys and judges.

Kennard was born on May 6, 1941, in Bandung, West Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies. Her parents were of mixed Eurasian ancestry. During World War II her father, Johan, died in a Japanese concentration camp when she was one year old. She and her mother, Wilhemine, were held in an internment camp. In 1955 they moved to the Netherlands. At 16 she lost part of her right leg to a tumor and thereafter walked with a prosthesis. In 1961 she immigrated to the United States under a special visa program for Dutch Indonesian refugees, settled in Los Angeles, and worked as a secretary for Occidental Life Insurance. Her mother died of lung cancer in 1968, leaving a carefully saved $5,000 that, with Kennard's own savings and part-time work, finally made college possible.

She earned an A.A. from Pasadena City College in 1970, then from the University of Southern California a B.A. in German magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa (1971), a Master of Public Administration, and a J.D. from USC Gould (1974). Admitted to the State Bar in December 1974, she served as a Deputy Attorney General (1975-1979) and as senior attorney to Court of Appeal Justice Edwin F. Beach. Governor George Deukmejian appointed her in rapid succession to the Los Angeles Municipal Court (1986), Los Angeles County Superior Court (1987), the Court of Appeal, Second District (1988), and, on April 5, 1989, the California Supreme Court. She was the second woman and the first person of Asian descent to sit on the state's highest court. Voters retained her in 1990, 1994, and 2006.

Over 25 years she was known for independence, meticulous preparation, and sharp oral-argument questions. She chaired the Judicial Council's Appellate Advisory Committee (1996-2005), guiding a major rewrite of appellate rules. She retired from the court on April 5, 2014, succeeded by Leondra Kruger. Colleagues, including Justice Marvin Baxter, praised her dedication and her lifelong effort to overcome adversity. In 1976 she married Bob Kennard. The court said it will convene an in memoriam session during its 2026-2027 term.