Joseph A. Broderick ’37

Eminent lawyer, Dominican priest, professor, and pro bono counselor Joe Broderick died May 19, 1997, at his home in Fearrington Village, N.C. His wife, Katharine "Tappy," survives.

Having prepared at All Hallows School, Joe majored in history at Princeton, winning the Junior Oratorical Medal and graduating magna cum laude. He was managing editor of the Daily Princetonian, secretary of Whig Hall, chairman of the Princeton-Harvard-Yale Public Affairs Conference, and a member of Tower.

After Princeton, Joe studied at Oxford. He then went to Harvard Law, graduating in 1941. During WWII, he skippered Navy PTs in New Guinea and LSTs in the Okinawa invasion, and came out a lieutenant commander. In 1946 he joined NYC law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, where under the direction of Allen Dulles, he represented the Netherlands in a lawsuit over bonds looted by the Nazis from Jewish citizens. At 33 he became a partner.

In 1952 Joe left Sullivan & Cromwell to study for the Dominican priesthood. Ordained in 1959, he served until 1980. During that time he taught at law schools and earned doctorates from Harvard and Oxford.

Joe was a founder of Las Casas, a Dominican ministry providing legal counsel to Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in Oklahoma. He also provided and organized pro bono counsel for people seeking asylum from Central America, South America, and Haiti.

The Class of 1937