Minnesota Legislative Reference Library

Accessibility menu

Menu

Minnesota Legislative Reference Library Legislators Past & Present

Library Navigation

Skip Navigation LinksLegislature > LRL Home > Legislators Past & Present > Member Record New Search

Sheran, Robert J.

Sessions Served  red ball graphic  Other Information

Click to enlarge

Map of Mankato
Mankato, MN

House 1947-50 (District 8)

Party when first elected:  Nonpartisan Election-Conservative Caucus

Counties Served:  Blue Earth

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Date of Birth: 01/02/1916 Date of Death: 01/25/2012
Birth Place: Waseca, Minnesota Birth County: Waseca Birth Country: United States
Other Names:
Gender:  Male Religion:  Catholic
City of Residence (when first elected):  Mankato

Occupation (when first elected):  Trial Lawyer, Gallagher Farrish Law Office

EDUCATION

Roosevelt High School, Minneapolis; Secondary; Graduate, 1932
St. Thomas College; B.A.; 1936
University of Minnesota, Law School; LL.B.; 1939

OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Judicial AdministrationMinnesota Supreme Court (Secretary to Chief Justice Henry M. Gallagher) ??/??/1939 to ??/??/1940
U.S. Executive BranchUnited States Federal Bureau of Investigation (World War II, Guarded the Secrets of the Manhattan Project, Special Agent) ??/??/1942 to ??/??/1945
JudgeMinnesota Supreme Court (Associate Justice, Appointed by Governor Elmer L. Andersen, Then Elected)Appointed01/08/1963 to 07/01/1970
JudgeMinnesota Supreme Court (Chief Justice, Appointed by Governor Wendell Anderson, Then Elected)Appointed12/18/1973 to 12/18/1981

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Spouse: Jean Brown (married in 1940; she died around 2005)
Children: Five children (Three children, while in office): Michael, Thomas, John, and Daniel (sons); Kathleen "Kathy" J. (daughter)
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:
Kathleen J. Sheran  - Daughter

GENERAL NOTES

He ran unsuccessfully for Minnesota Lieutenant Governor. "Sheran was a DFLer who had run for lieutenant governor..." (Star Tribune, January 27, 2012)

He served as Interim Dean of Hamline University School of Law in 1993.

He was a national debate champion while at St. Thomas College.

He died in Bloomington, Minnesota. His funeral was held on January 30, 2012 at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Edina, Minnesota. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Mankato, Minnesota.

Religion provided by his obituary.

Legislative Session: 56th (1949-1950)   Session Details term photo
Click to enlarge
Body: House Elected: 11/2/1948 Term of Office: 1/4/1949 to 1/1/1951
District: 08 Residence: Mankato
Counties Represented: Blue Earth
Occupation: Trial Lawyer, Gallagher Farrish Law Office
Party: Nonpartisan Election-Liberal Caucus
Committees:
Appropriations
Dairy Products and Livestock
Judiciary
Motor Vehicles
University
Legislative Session: 55th (1947-1948)   Session Details
Body: House Elected: 11/5/1946 Term of Office: 1/7/1947 to 1/3/1949
District: 08 Residence: Mankato
Counties Represented: Blue Earth
Occupation: Trial Lawyer, Gallagher Farrish Law Office
Party: Nonpartisan Election-Conservative Caucus
Committees:
Civil Administration
Insurance
Judiciary
Taxes

OTHER INFORMATION

Articles & Books By
Sheran, Robert J. "State of the Judiciary Message." June 26, 1981.

Sheran, Robert J. "State of the Judiciary Message." June 21, 1979.

Sheran, Robert J. "State of the Judiciary Message." June 23, 1978.


Articles & Books About
"Sheran, Former Chief Justice Robert J. (Obituary)." Star Tribune, January 27, 2012, p. B5.

Simons, Abby. "Brilliant Jurist Remembered As a Great Listener (Obituary)." Star Tribune, January 27, 2012, p. B1, B5.

Gurnon, Emily. "Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran dies at 96 (Obituary)." St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 26, 2012.

Ojanpa, Brian. "Former Mankato Lawyer, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Sheran Has Died (Obituary)." Mankato Free Press, January 26, 2012.

Minnesota Supreme Court. "Robert J. Sheran." Biographical Sketches of Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court and Judges of the Minnesota Court of Appeals from Territorial Days to 1990, St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Company, 1990, p. 30.

The Professional Career of Robert J. Sheran (Issue 2 of Minnesota Justices Series). St. Paul: Minnesota State Law Library, 1982. (Link to Table of Contents)




Name Search
Other Searches

Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, 645 State Office Building, Saint Paul, MN  55155