Thomas A. Donnelly spent close to half a century in the legal profession — first as an attorney, then as a judge and later as a consultant. Like his colleagues, he constantly had to weigh the scales of justice, but this being New Mexico, where the past is our daily compass, Donnelly became well versed in the nuances of our state's history during the course of his career.

As he explains, "My first job in 1959 was with the New Mexico Legislative Council, where I had to draft a revision of the state's entire criminal code. It was the first time since the territorial days that a comprehensive study had been done, so I learnt a lot about the anomalies of our justice system."

Several years later, after practicing just about all aspects of law from criminal cases to divorces, Donnelly once again was confronted with the importance of New Mexico history. In 1973, he was the presiding judge in case of the theft of Santa Fe's beloved icon La Conquistadora, which resulted in sending two men to prison.

As Donnelly remembers, the theft was committed by two young men on March 19, 1973. One of the thieves hid in the church until closing, while his friend waited for him outside. A few weeks later, the church received a ransom note written in Italian, along with a cross from the saint's crown. The thieves requested thousands of dollars for the safe return of La Conquistadora, along with immunity from prosecution.

They also demanded that the Cathedral bells ring 10 times on a certain day to signify that their demands were to be met. The police were able to apprehend the thieves through a wiretap on the the church phones. On April 29, 1973, thousands of people lined the downtown streets as they watched the procession with La Conquistadora being returned to her chapel.

Donnelly was born in New York City in 1929 to Thomas C. Donnelly and Mabel Stanley. His father taught political science at New York University. In 1934, the professor accepted a job at Western New Mexico University in Silver City. "He taught there for a year and a half then the state ran out of money, so he finished off the semester without getting paid," Donnelly recalls.

The family moved to Albuquerque, where his father taught government at The University of New Mexico. When Donnelly was just 5, his mother died of a kidney infection. "Back then, there weren't antibiotics," he says.

Donnelly attended public school, graduating from Albuquerque High in 1947. He attended New Mexico State University for four years, where he played center for the Aggies basketball team.

After graduation, he enrolled in graduate school at UNM and one month later was drafted into the Korean War. He was stationed in Suwon, near Seoul, where he was a staff sergeant in the antiaircraft artillery division of the Army for two years. Upon returning from the war, he used the G.I. Bill to obtain his law degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Donnelly has been a member of the New Mexico Bar Association for more than 50 years. He sat on the bench for 27 years, eight with the First Judicial District and 19 for the state Court of Appeals. After retiring in 1990, he was appointed by the state Supreme Court to serve on the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, where he served until 2007. Since then he and his wife, Paula, have traveled to Italy, France, Spain, Turkey and Peru.

He has two children and two grandchildren. "We're a family of teachers. In addition to my father, my 94-year-old stepmother, Dorothea Berry, my wife and my two children have all worked as educators," he says.

During his years in the legal profession, Donnelly was awarded several commendations for his work, including the 1991 First Judicial District award and in 1995 the State Bar's Judicial Service award. Most recently, he received an award from the Southwest Writers Association for his short story "Psychic Chicken."

"The story is about a chicken who can predict the outcome at basketball games," he explains. After his long career writing legal briefs, Donnelly is enjoying his new passion. As he says, "Writing fiction provides me with more latitude."

Ana Pacheco's weekly tribute to our community elders appears every Sunday. She can be reached at 505-474-2800.