It's been awhile since he lived and worked here, but former state Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Brachtenbach will still be remembered as a native son with roots in Yakima and Selah who made a lasting impact on the judicial system of this state.

Brachtenbach, 77, died May 2 in Cottage Grove, Ore. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery near Eugene, Ore. The Major Family Funeral Home in Springfield, Ore., is in charge of arrangements.

He was first appointed to the state's highest court in 1972 by then-Gov. Dan Evans. He was elected to fill out the remainder of a term in 1973 and subsequently was unopposed when re-elected to three six-year terms. He was chief justice from 1981 to 1983 and retired in 1994 to Ocean Shores, Wash., and later moved to Oregon.

He dropped out of Yakima High School, now Davis High, in the mid-1940s to work full time at a grocery store. But his friends and family persuaded him to go back and he graduated in 1948.

What a turning point in life that proved to be.

He attended Yakima Valley College, then the University of Washington, where he earned his law degree. He opened a law practice in Selah. He also served on the Selah School Board from 1960 to 1972.

Retired Yakima attorney Robert Redman -- a senior at Yakima High when Brachtenbach was a sophomore -- recalls both the local lawyer and the high court jurist.

"He was a very cerebral and able lawyer and his demeanor was always professional and courteous," Redman said.

Redman argued several civil cases before the state Supreme Court and remembers Brachtenbach as "a real asset" on the court at that time: "Bob was one of the better ones."

Over the years, he served with some other "better ones" that would include the likes of justices Robert Utter, James Dolliver and James Andersen.

Phil Winberry, administrator of state courts during the early Brachtenbach years, said his contributions to the court also included an insightful look to the future.

"He wanted the courts to be more efficient and early-on was a strong advocate of technology. He was the first chairman of a statewide committee that put in place a foundation for the technology that's still used in courts today," Winberry added.

Brachtenbach was involved in scores of court rulings. He wrote the opinion upholding the state lottery in 1983 and was with the majority in upholding a lower court finding that the Legislature had a responsibility to define and fully fund basic public education. (And school officials and the Legislature have been fighting over what constitutes both ever since.)

One of his most controversial decisions came in the 1980s when the Washington Public Power Supply Systems was sued by investors for defaulting on $2.25 billion worth of bonds, the largest municipal bond default in the nation's history. He sided with the majority that WPPSS had no authority to issue bonds in the first place and therefore could not be forced to honor repayment terms.

Brachtenbach served two terms in the state House of Representatives as a Republican from Selah, an experience that gave him a different perspective on the bench.

In "The Washington High Bench: A Biographical History of the State Supreme Court," author Charles H. Sheldon noted: "The challenge of achieving the proper balance between political and legal considerations in the court's deliberations attracted him to the judiciary in the first place ..."

All things considered, he was indeed, "one of the better ones."

We pay tribute to a legacy of innovation and effectiveness during his distinguished 22 years of public service as a member of the state's highest court. Robert F. Brachtenbach made a difference -- in this community and in Olympia.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.