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Nogales’ Ellen B. Griffin
Ellen Beatriz Griffin, a Nogales native who studied drama at the University of Arizona and was honored by the U.S. Justice Department for helping families of murder victims, has died at age 64.
Ms. Griffin died Jan. 9 at Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales after struggling with multiple sclerosis. She was buried yesterday at Sacred Heart Church in Nogales.
In 1982, actress Dominique Dunne, Ms. Griffin’s 22-year-old daughter, was killed by an ex-boyfriend in Los Angeles after making her movie debut in ”Poltergeist.”
As a result, Ms. Griffin founded Justice for Homicide Victims Inc., a Los Angeles-based group that lobbies legislators to stiffen crime laws and monitors judges to advise attorneys about them.
The group, which started with five people, has 10,000 members.
”She was a great pioneer in the quest for justice,” said Marcella Leach, who assumed leadership of the organization in 1990.
”She had an extraordinary life,” said one of her sons, Alex Dunne. ”Her work with victims’ rights was a central part of her life.”
In 1989, Ms. Griffin received a Crime Victims Award from former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh in Washington, D.C., where she also toured the White House and met then-President Bush.
She was born Jan. 28, 1932, and grew up in Nogales. She studied drama at UA and was a prize student of Peter Marroney, a longtime head of the UA drama department who retired in 1978 and died in 1990.
Her father, the late Thomas Francis Griffin, bought the historic 40,000-acre Yerba Buena Ranch near Nogales in 1929 and was active in southern Arizona affairs.
She married Dominick Dunne of New York City in 1954. They moved to Beverly Hills, Calif., where they raised three children.
The couple divorced, and Ms. Griffin moved back to Nogales in November 1990.
Ms. Griffin is survived by her sons Alex Dunne, 39, of New York City; and Griffin Dunne, 40, of San Francisco, an actor and director who has appeared in such films as ”After Hours” and ”An American Werewolf in London.”
In August 1995, while visiting his mother in Nogales, Alex Dunne injured himself on a hike to Mount Wrightson and spent six days missing in the Santa Rita Mountains without food or water.
Search teams failed to spot Dunne, who said a rain storm finally wet his lips and gave him energy to hike to the trail head, where a sheriff’s deputy found him.
The family requests donations be sent to Justice for Homicide Victims Inc., P.O. Box 2845, Malibu, Calif. 90265.
(Dated Jan 14, 1997)
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Nathan D. Perlman prospered in Tucson
The real estate developer-turned-artist had many interests here.
Funeral services for Nathan David ”Nate” Perlman, an artist, real estate developer and founder of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, were to be held this morning at Evergreen Mortuary, 3015 N. Oracle Road.
Mr. Perlman, 85, died Sunday at Tucson Medical Center of heart complications.
He was born in Denver on March 25, 1911.
He married his wife, Ruth, in Detroit on Nov. 17, 1935, the start of their 61-year marriage.
Mr. Perlman studied fine arts and business administration at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1942 to 1950.
He also taught classes at the university while he was a car dealer in Ann Arbor from 1947 to 1951.
In 1952 the Perlmans and their three children moved to Tucson.
For the next nine years, Mr. Perlman was a real estate developer. He helped to develop the Pantano Parkview retail center on East 22nd Street, between South Pantano Parkway and South Sarnoff Drive. It became the home of Payless Cashways Inc. and Skate County East
Besides his family, Mr. Perlman’s real love was art. In 1961 he chose to stop attending zoning meetings and purchasing land, instead opting to become a full-time artist, sculptor and potter.
He built a studio in his Catalina foothills home and displayed his art across the United States and in Australia, his wife said.
Mr. Perlman studied art with James Nordyke and Philip Bellomo, and with his cousin, noted Phoenix sculptor John Waddell.
Ruth Perlman said her husband’s art has been displayed at the TJCC, 3800 E. River Road.
Mr. Perlman was on the committee that founded the original Jewish Community Center in the 1950s, at 102 N. Plumer Ave.
”Art was his great love,” said Ruth Perlman. ”He was an all-around man, and his interests were wide and varied.
”He was very concerned about the state of the world.”
He was one of two life members of the TJCC.
”Mr. Perlman was granted life membership because of his many contributions and hard work with the center over the decades,” said Ken Light, the center’s executive vice president.
Mr. Perlman served on the board of directors for the Tucson Museum of Art and supported the Tucson Peace Center, Arizona Theater Company and Invisible Theater.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Julie Perlman of Denver and Nancy Klingenstein of New York City; son David Perlman of Ann Arbor; six grandchildren, one great-grandchild and many nieces and nephews.
(Dated Mar 18, 1997)
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Memorial Mass today for Tucsonan James Murphy
A memorial Mass will be said at noon today for native Tucsonan James M. Murphy, an attorney who served as president of many community boards.
Mr. Murphy, who was born in 1917, died Wednesday. The Mass will be at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 5150 N. Valley View Road.
His grandparents, Martin and Bridget Duffy, came to Tucson in 1880 as a pioneer family. Duffy Elementary School was named for Mr. Murphy’s aunts, according to his family.
Mr. Murphy was educated at St. Joseph Academy, Tucson High, University of Notre Dame and the University of Arizona, where he received his law degree.
He served three years in the FBI before becoming a Navy legal officer in Guam during World War II. Returning to Tucson in 1946, he was a deputy county attorney until he joined the Conner and Jones law firm in 1967.
He later started his own firm, Murphy, Goering and Roberts, where he practiced law until retiring in 1991.
Mr. Murphy served as chairman of the board of Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital for eight years; as counsel to the Catholic Diocese of Tucson; as president of the Tucson Airport Authority; and as president of the former Old Pueblo Club. He also was president of the Arizona Historical Society for eight years, during the time its building was constructed.
In addition, he was president of the Pima County Bar Association, the state Bar of Arizona, and was a director of the American Bar Association. He was a lecturer on business law at UA.
Mr. Murphy recently helped to raise the money and supervise the funds for the renovation of San Xavier Mission. A Southwestern history buff, he wrote two books, ”Spanish Legal Heritage in Arizona” and ”Law, Courts and Lawyers.”
He is survived by his wife Billie; sons James, Thomas and Richard; and five grandchildren.
The family suggests donations to Patronada San Xavier, P.O. Box 522, Tucson, Ariz. 85702.
(Dated Mar 15, 1997)
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Fred N. Belman lived life to fullest
The attorney and judge loved helping people solve their problems.
Services will be held tomorrow for Fred N. Belman, a prominent Tucson attorney and judge who tried to ”squeeze every drop of living out of life,” his wife said.
Mr. Belman, 56, died Sunday of cancer. The service, set for 3 p.m., will be at Evergreen Mortuary, Cemetery and Memorial Park, 3015 N. Oracle Road.
”He wanted to do it all,” said his wife, Tracy Belman, whom he married in 1983. ”He said he would never retire. He enjoyed helping people out and helping them solve problems.”
Four months ago, she said, Mr. Belman ”was as healthy as a horse” when he traveled to Texas to hunt turkey.
He fell ill, however, and was flown to Tucson, where non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was diagnosed.
”But he was the eternal optimist, and he was eager to get back to work,” she said. ”He loved to practice law, and he had a very personal touch with people.
”But none of the treatments touched the disease.”
Mr. Belman was born in the Los Angeles area and moved to Tucson in 1959. He earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree at the University of Arizona.
He was admitted to practice law in 1966, shortly after graduation. He worked as a prosecutor for the city, then the county. In 1969, he began his private practice, which continued until his death.
Mr. Belman also served as a special deputy county attorney in Juvenile Court, as a special Arizona assistant attorney general, on the Arizona Outdoor Recreation Coordinating Commission and as a special assistant on wildlife affairs.
From 1992 to 1993, he served as a judge pro-tem in Tucson City Court, Pima County Justice Court and Pima County Superior Court. He was reappointed to such a position in Justice Court in 1994 and to Superior Court in 1996.
Mr. Belman was an avid hunter and fisherman and supported wildlife and natural resources, his wife said.
Gov. Fife Symington appointed Mr. Belman to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, ”where he served with unwavering energy, passion, dedication and commitment,” his wife said.
He was a member of the National Rifle Association, the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Mr. Belman was a member of Tau Delta Phi fraternity and several legal organizations, including the State Bar of Arizona.
He was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Besides his wife, Mr. Belman is survived by his mother-in-law, Gail Tully; his brother-in-law, James Tully, both of Tucson; ”and many friends whom he considered to be part of his family,” she said.
Donations in Mr. Belman’s name may be made to the Arizona Game Rangers Association, 6951 W. Shaw Butte Drive, Peoria, Ariz. 85345.
(Dated Jul 16, 1997)
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