Theodore deValcourt Piatt, Jr.

life story

Remembering Ted Piatt, Brilliant Law Scholar and Dedicated Family Man

Theodore deValcourt Piatt, Jr., also known as Ted (and often “Hank” by those close to him), husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, law scholar, amateur musician, and community builder, died on May 1, 2026, in Pomona, California. He was 89.

Born in 1937, Ted Piatt was the middle of three sons. His older brother, Jim Piatt, and his younger brother, Tim Piatt, were among his closest and dearest friends throughout his life. Indeed, the brothers were known for their deep affection and devotion to each other. Their home on Lincoln Avenue in Pomona was a place where everyone was welcome for dinner, as long as they had no objection to being teased (just a little) or indulging in long, loud laughs. The Piatts were famous for their quick wit and unfailing sense of humor. Ted’s mother, Audrey, helped support her sons through college, tenaciously working her way up from the drapery-sewing room to the design floor at Stillinger Interior Design in Pomona, where she created elegant homescapes for some of Pomona’s best-resourced families. Ted’s father, Ted senior, worked in the fruit packing industry during WWII and was later a longtime associate of the L.A. County Fair, instrumental in bringing the original Mexican Village to the fairgrounds.

When Ted enrolled at Pomona College, he became actively involved, immersing himself in the study of history, earning a B.A. in 1959. During his undergraduate years, he joined and eventually became president of Ghosts, the Men’s Honor Society; sang in and became president of the men’s glee club, an experience he cherished given the fact that he’d exhibited an early love for vocal music; and ran track and served as captain of the track team. In fact, he still holds a record for a track event that is no longer run: the low hurdles. An old photograph from his college days captured him leaping over a hurdle in perfect form, making it look effortless. Throughout his life, he often jogged, power-walked, snow-skied, and biked for long distances. He was a natural athlete with a particular passion for track and field events and later the sport of golf. In midlife, he served as president of the Pomona College Alumni Association, and for years he gathered frequently with former classmates and even professors for salon-style conversations over coffee, the subjects ranging from politics, current events, culture, film, and books.

Once he graduated from Pomona College, he entered Officer Candidates School (OCS) in Newport, Rhode Island, becoming commissioned as an Ensign USNR and completing a tour on the USS Hornet CVS-12 as a nuclear safety engineer in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations before being honorably discharged at Long Beach, California, in 1963. Once he left the Navy, he enrolled in Hastings Law School, now officially known as UC San Francisco law school. By this time, he’d also married his college sweetheart, Lynn Dell Simms, who’d likewise graduated from Pomona and subsequently gone on to get her teaching credential at UC Berkeley, so she could support Ted through law school. Their daughter Rebecca Lee was born in Burlingame in 1963, and word has it that Ted’s apprehensions about becoming a new father caused him to faint on the front steps of the law school when he learned that Becky had finally arrived. (No husbands in the delivery room back in those days!)

After graduating from law school in 1966 with a Juris Doctor degree, Ted was admitted to the California Bar and the Federal Bar in December of that year. By this time,Ted and Lynn had landed back in Pomona, where Ted joined the Los Angeles Public Defender’s office. 1966 was an eventful year: their son Theodore deValcourt Piatt III was born that same December. When Ted’s older brother Jim and his wife Patty moved their family “up the hill” to Mt. Baldy, a picturesque village in the San Bernardino mountains, Ted and Lynn decided to join them, moving into a small cabin right across the street. It was a convenient and happy arrangement for the cousins, who became fast friends, remaining close to this day. In 1969, Ted and Lynn’s son Matthew Simms was born.

After several years in Mt. Baldy, the family relocated “down the hill” to Claremont, where the three kids grew up. Eventually, Ted went into private practice in 1974, becoming a successful criminal defense attorney. His daughter Becky once asked him whether it made him nervous, defending people who might in fact be guilty of the crimes of which they’d been accused. He replied that because adults were presumed innocent until proven guilty, his job was to use the law to build as effective a case as possible in support of his clients. His role, as he saw it, was to be an effective and wise advocate. He also affirmed that for him personally, it was far more intimidating to defend someone he actually believed to be innocent—because the stakes were potentially so much higher.

In 1981, Ted was appointed as a juvenile court referee, witnessing firsthand the challenge of sending juveniles off to detention centers whose goals were often more punitive than compassionate. He demonstrated a commitment to placing juveniles in situations where they had a real chance of developing the tools they would need when they aged out of the system. Ted was later appointed to the Municipal Court in 1984 and then the Superior Court in 1986 by Governor George Deukmejian, joining his brother, Jim, making them the only two brothers “on the bench” in the state of California. Ted built a reputation for having a robust understanding of the law, which he applied with so much consistent skill, wisdom, and efficiency, lawyers frequently loved being in his courtroom because they knew they’d get a fair, unbiased, and thorough hearing. During an early assignment as the presiding judge of Los Angeles, he worked in downtown L.A., becoming an expert in law and motion cases. In those days, he’d get up at 4 a.m. to drive to the city, so he could miss traffic, go for a run whose route took him through Skid Row (where the locals often hailed him, saying, “Hello, Judge!”), and settle in with his law studies in order to be maximally prepared for the day’s proceedings. On the bench, Ted’s judgments reflected his deep understanding of the law, his objective being to apply the law as skillfully as possible. He also was an extraordinary mentor to many junior appointees to the bench, helping them get their bearings as he modeled the value of both a scholarly and a compassionate approach to interpreting the law and running a courtroom.

While in the practice of law, Ted served in the following public and private associations: State Bar of California; the Bar of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands; the Board of Directors of the Eastern Bar Association; the Friends of the Library and Claremont Rotary International. He was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Pomona Host Lions Club, and Pomona Valley Republicans. He taught business law at Mt. San Antonio College and Cal State University Cal Poly. He also taught courses in Property at La Verne Law School. He served on the Los Angeles County Municipal Court Presiding Judge’s Association and was appointed as Supervisor of the East District of Los Angeles County in 1992 and 1993, where he pioneered the implementation of state-mandated fast tracking of civil cases in the East District.

During his years as a judge, he also spent time with lifelong close friend John Carson, whom he met way back when they were young, L.A. County district attorneys. Early on, John left the practice of law to pursue his dream of sailing, and it was with John that Ted once sailed from Hawaii back to Seattle in 1980, a trip that was transformative. Watching the planet Venus rise out of the Pacific at night was an experience Ted never forgot. He said it was as bright as the moon. Navigating by the stars and a nineteen-dollar sextant, he and John used books, math, and well-honed instincts to tack from the islands back to the mainland. They often slept under the stars, a practice that affected Ted profoundly. He claimed he could never stare up at the night sky again after that journey without sensing that some vast intelligence was at work. Though he’d grown up Catholic, he was by this point a spiritual secularist, convinced that the universe was suffused with the sacred, whatever that might mean. He had no need to frame it a certain way; he simply carried a genuine reverence for the ineffable beauty of the world and the infinite spaces beyond it.

When he retired from the bench, he served as chairman of the board for LeRoy Boys Home (now part of the Haynes family of programs), where his contributions were transformative. Ted knew the difficult time juveniles were experiencing when thrust out of foster care, so he undertook to develop a program designed for exactly that population, to ensure that juveniles had solid transitions into work or college as they aged out of the system. He also developed a specialty autism unit for LeRoy’s, which continues to offer resources for autistic kids whose sensitivities often prevent them from assimilating in a world unprepared to make space for them as adults. It took years for the autism initiative to fully materialize, but it now includes an educational and nurturing environment for multi-sensory learners. This inspiring program addresses behavior modification; language and communication; academics; sensory and social training; and transition and technology. Ted also chaired the board of directors for the beloved YMCA facility in Pomona, which had deteriorated to the point that it needed to be sold. Ted oversaw the sale of this community landmark, ensuring that many of its rich programs were repurposed into other local programs, spaces, and places. He was determined to make sure that not all of these resources disappeared when the facility finally sold.

Ted was a longtime golfer with a deep love for the sport, spending many hours on the course at Red Hill, in Rancho Cucamonga, where he often golfed with his older brother Jim. Even when tucked away many years later in a residence at Claremont’s Mt. San Antonio Gardens, where he lived for the last few years, he was always making big plans to go golfing, sometimes forgetting that his failing health, as well as logistics challenges, might prevent him from enjoying the sport. But he never stopped planning golf trips! He also was known throughout his life for his quick wit and fabulous sense of humor. Always a music lover, he could sing virtually any show tune or jazz standard; indeed, he had a vast memory of harmonies and lyrics, singing along to the chorus of Handel’s Messiah a few years ago at Christmastime without missing a single word. Right up to the end, he was entertaining family and friends from his hospital bed, as long as he was lucid enough to do so, at one point recalling all the words to an old tune from a movie featuring Danny Kaye, who starred in the film Hans Christian Andersen. Even though his hearing and eyesight were failing him and he felt the weight of a deteriorating memory as dementia took its toll, he kept right on singing.

Ted lost his first wife Lynn to small-cell lung cancer in 1998. Lynn was a counselor at Claremont High School, always committed to being fully present for the counselees who appreciated her listening ear, gentle nature, and compassionate heart. Lynn’s highly skilled and successful oncologist was Dr. Linda Bosserman, a doctor whose wise management of Lynn’s cancer therapy gave her an extra year of life. After Lynn passed away in July of 1998, Ted reconnected a year or so later with Dr. Bosserman, who’d also lost her spouse. One night, Ted arrived at Linda’s home with a guitar in hand, and he proceeded to sit down and start playing and singing, a spontaneous move that might well have fast-tracked their courtship. Ted married Linda in December of 2000, and they reared Linda’s sons Eric and Alex through high school, supporting the boys on their journey to become Eagle Scouts, as well as hit the marks on their college resumes. Ted also cooked big Sunday breakfasts in support of Alex’s Upland high cross country team, which would run up to Mt. Baldy and back every weekend. Then came the kids’ college years and many family travels and adventures with the boys and daughter Becky and Aaron and their children—Clave, Tessa, Millay, and Silas; son Teddy and Jennifer and their daughter Betsy; and son Matt and Martha, their three children Liz, Verónica, and Erik, and grandchildren. Ted commented more than once on his great good fortune, being able to spend the first part of his life with a legendarily good and wise woman, and the second part of his life with an equally legendarily good and wise woman. Lynn had a gentle energy; Linda has a magnetic energy. Moreover, she’s still at the peak of her career, building a hormone support program at the City of Hope, designed for breast cancer survivors and menopausal women. It was Linda who ensured that Ted was able to spend his final days and hours surrounded by family who sat by his bedside, told stories, sang to him, held his hand, and lovingly wished him well as he prepared for the next part of his soul’s journey. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Linda Bosserman, as well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who will continue to remember and be delighted by his musical and comedic antics.

He passed away on May 1st, 2026, in Pomona. He will be desperately missed, not just for his whimsical musicality and sense of humor, but also for the genuine kindness and courtesy he never failed to show every human with whom he crossed paths. On the bench, he made judgments with deep wisdom and skill, but in life, he judged no one and held compassion for everyone.

He is preceded by his first wife, Lynn Dell Simms Piatt (1938 - 1998), and his son, Theodore deValcourt Piatt III (“Teddy”). He is survived by his wife, Dr. Linda Bosserman; children Becky (Aaron), Matthew (Martha), Eric (Anna), Alex, and daughter-in-law Jennifer; grandchildren Clave, Tessa (Isaac), Millay (Thane), Silas, Elizabeth (Jesús), Verónica, Erik, Betsy, Nico, Cass, and great-grandchildren Izaiah, Valerie, Beverly Jane, and Thatcher Vaughn. He is also survived by his brothers Jim (Alice) and Tim (Liza), John Carson (Nancy), and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life event will take place on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at Hillcrest Retirement Center, 2705 Mountain View Drive, in LaVerne, from 10:30 - 2:00 p.m. Donations in Ted’s honor may go to the Leroy Haynes Foundation or to the UCSF Law School.

memorial service

Celebration of Life

May 30, 2026

Hillcrest 2705 Mountain View Dr, La Verne, CA 91750, USA

Hillcrest Retirement Center

The Meeting House Room

LaVerne, California

Lunch will be served.

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