Berkeley Lent

Berkeley "Bud" Lent (September 22, 1921 – November 11, 2007) was an American politician and jurist in the state of Oregon. He was the 38th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving from 1982 to 1983. Elected to the court in 1976, Lent remained until 1988. Previously, the native Oregonian also was elected to both branches of the Oregon legislature, including time as the Senate Majority Leader, and was a county circuit court judge. Lent also served as a mediator and senior judge in Oregon.

Early life On September 22, 1921, Lent was born in Los Angeles, CA. Raised in the Lents neighborhood of southeast Portland, Berkeley earned his primary education there, graduating from Franklin High School. After high school he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he attended Occidental College from 1944 to 1945. He then served in the state senate from 1967 to 1971. During the 1971 legislative session Lent was selected as the Senate Majority Leader joined Republicans to deny Lent the Senate Presidency. The defection caused a 15–15 deadlock that lasted for 12 days and through 54 ballots before being broken. Later that year Lent was appointed as a county circuit court judge in Multnomah County remaining at that post until 1977. Justice Lent was then re-elected to another six-year term in 1982. On the court his fellow justices elected him as chief justice in July 1982, serving until resigning the position in August 1983. Justice Lent then resigned from the bench on September 30, 1988. George Van Hoomissen was elected in May of that year to replace Lent.

Later life and family After leaving the court and political office, Lent worked in alternative dispute resolution as an arbitrator and mediator, as well as a senior judge for the state of Oregon. He divorced his first wife Dorothy in 1961 and remarried in 1968 to Joan Burnett, with the family moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, after Lent's retirement. He had one son, Eric, and four daughters, Terry, Deirdre, Suzanne, and Patricia. Berkeley Lent died of a heart attack in Las Vegas on November 11, 2007.