Honorable Kathleen Ryan Dacey, 89, a retired federal judge, died at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on April 5.
Born in Boston, she was a graduate of Mission High School (1937), Emmanuel College (1941), Simmons School of Library Science (1942), Northeastern University Law School (1935) and Boston University Masters in Law (1947). She was the first woman law clerk for the Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Elected in 1949 to the Boston School Committee, she became the first woman chairman in 1950.
Mrs. Ryan Dacey was an assistant district attorney
for Suffolk County before entering private practice for 25 years.
In 1975, she was appointed chief of the Civil Bureau for the Office of the Attorney General. President Carter appointed her as an administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration in 1977. She sat in both Michigan and Massachusetts until her retirement in 1998.
She was member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association, National Association of Women Judges, National Association of Women Lawyers, Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers, and Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. Mrs. Ryan Dacey had honorary degrees from Suffolk University and Emmanuel College.
She was a resident of Milton for 46 years, summered in Harwich, and wintered in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Wife of the late William A. Dacey, she is survived by her daughter, Honorable Mary Dacey White and her husband, John, of Milton; her grandchildren, Meaghan D. White, Kathryn C. White and Patrick W. C. White, all of Milton; and many nieces and nephews. She was the sister of the late John F. Ryan, Rita M. Cushing and Paul J. Ryan.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated in
St. Elizabeth Church on April 12. Burial was in
Milton Cemetery.
Donations may be made to Mission Church, 1545 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02120 or University of Notre Dame, Kathleen Ryan Dacey Law Fellowship, c/o George Duke, 92 Portsmouth Ave., Suite 13, Exeter, NH 03833, made payable to University of Notre Dame.
Arrangements were by the Dolan Funeral Home.