Newport Beach judge dies at 82

Deepa Bharath

Floyd H. Schenk, a retired Orange County Superior Court judge and

longtime Newport Beach resident known to have been an innovator on

the bench, died Saturday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s

disease. He was 82.

Judge Schenk, a presiding judge at Harbor Justice Center for many

years, was widely known for starting a program for first-time drunken

drivers at the West Orange County Municipal Court in Westminster. He

would require young offenders between ages 18 and 21 to spend Friday

and Saturday nights in hospital emergency rooms and see firsthand the

consequences of driving under the influence.

He also ordered them to spend three hours at the county morgue and

write a 1,000-word essay about their experiences. In the judge’s own

words, the program was a form of “shock treatment” for the young

people. That program received a Disneyland Community Service Award in

1988.

Schenk also gained popularity when he initiated the “pro tempore”

program, which called on attorneys to volunteer their time to

arbitrate small-claims matters. He was recognized by the California

Bar Assn. for that effort.

Schenk had all the right ingredients to make a great judge, said

his wife, Berit.

“He was a prince of a man,” she said. “He was honest, loved his

work and tried to be fair all the time. He was quite a person.”

Schenk was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 1923. In 1946, after

spending three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he

enrolled in undergraduate classes in UCLA and eventually graduated

from the Loyola University School of Law in 1950.

Schenk had a law practice in Hollywood until 1963 and later in

Palm Springs and Newport Beach. He lived in Newport Beach for the

last 26 years.

Schenk is survived by his wife, Berit; sons Joseph A. Schenk II

and Kenneth Mitchell; daughters Gayle Bonilla, Alida Lucas and Ellen

Reader; and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Funeral services are private. In lieu of donations, the family

requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Assn.