Celebrating the Life of Mary Moran Pajalich - League Member since 1970

Mary Moran Pajalich was born October 7, 1907, in Bernal Heights. She died July 21, 2010, in Golden Gate Heights. She was a San Francisco resident for all but thirteen of her 102-plus years. Judge Pajalich graduated from Commerce High School and took a job in a law office. The job prompted her to work her way through San Francisco Law School taking night courses. She passed the bar examination in February 1932 before receiving her Ll.B. in June of that year.

In 1935 Judge Pajalich was the first woman attorney hired by the California Railroad Commission, now known as the California Public Utilities Commission. Except for a period when her daughters were young, she served the commission for the next thirty-seven years. She capped her career with an appointment as Chief Counsel, the first woman (possibly in the nation) to hold that position. She argued cases at all levels of court, including the California Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, and gained California ratepayers tens of millions of dollars in rebates. Mary Pajalich was appointed by Ronald Reagan to the Municipal Bench in San Francisco, where she served five years, retiring in 1977. Her interest in criminal justice having been aroused, she was a founder of the Crime Lab Fund which brought one of America's first fingerprint computers to San Francisco. Judge Pajalich also served six years on the San Francisco Parole Commission.

Mary Moran married Randolph Pajalich, whom she met in her work at the PUC, in 1938. She was widowed in 1972. She and Randolph had two daughters, Mary Renee (born 1941) and Jeanne Patricia (born 1944). Judge Pajalich is survived by her daughters, two grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and many great-nieces and-nephews and cousins. She was a 75-year member of the San Francisco Bar, and was very active in Queen's Bench, Business and Professional Women's Club, and the League of Women Voters. Judge Pajalich was a tireless advocate and worker for women's rights all her life. She is greatly missed, and will always be an inspiration.