Judge Warren Chan who served as a judge in King County in Washington State for 24 years and was the first Asian American elected to a judgeship in the state is dead.
The Seattle Times reports that Chan died at the age of 92 after several years of declining health.
Chan also co-founded the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle and helped to establish the city’s Chinese garden.
“He was the first in a lot of things,” said his daughter Jill Chan Rinearson. “He didn’t think, ‘Oh, that hasn’t been done so I’m not going to try.’ “He saw a need, he had a drive, he was very capable and smart. He was a trailblazer.”
You can read Chan’s life story and how he shocked the entire city by winning election to the King County bench seat in 1968 in the Seattle Times.