07/20/2020
With a heavy heart, Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego (PALSD) mourns the passing of a founding member, a distinguished public servant, and a trailblazing leader of San Diego’s legal community, Peter Quon, Jr. More significantly, PALSD mourns the loss of its greatest supporter and friend, a legend of the bar with a passion for mentoring and helping law students and attorneys.
Peter was an accomplished attorney, serving first as a Deputy Attorney General, and later as a San Diego County Deputy District Attorney. Throughout his career, he skillfully represented the People of the State of California in jury trials, California Supreme Court cases, California Court of Appeal cases, and two published opinions before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
For his devotion to his profession and his community he received numerous awards including the Attorney General's Prosecutor of the Year Award, PALSD President’s Award, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Trailblazer Award, the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA)’s Service to the Legal Profession Award, the South Asian Bar Association’s Community Leadership Award, California Western School of Law’s Mentor Award, the House of China’s Champion Award, the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego (FALSD) President’s Award, the Korean American Bar Association’s Magunghwa Award, the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and SDCBA’s Outstanding Attorney Award.
But Peter never asked for or was interested in accolades, and a conversation with Peter would never include these accomplishments. Instead, it would always center on how he could help you.
We all came to know and love Peter because of his never-ending enthusiasm to help any law student and attorney who crossed his path. Peter’s specialty was his quiet, selfless mentorship. Over his four decades of service to our community, countless students and attorneys were nurtured by Peter's time, attention, and wisdom. This included regularly organized and hosted luncheons for students and young attorneys to meet judges and senior attorneys, hosting students at the annual PALSD/FALSD dinner as his guests, and organizing and sponsoring a long-standing dinner with the San Diego County Bar Association leadership and the API bar organizations in San Diego. He did all of this, and much more, without any recognition or fanfare.
To know Peter was to know an individual who would stun you with his generosity, exasperate you with his modesty, and entertain you with his well-developed sense of humor. We will miss him and count ourselves lucky to have known him.
While Peter is a legend within the San Diego community, his greatest roles were that of husband, father, and grandfather. Our thoughts go out to Denise, his wife and partner, as well as his two sons, Peter and Jeffrey, and their respective families, including Peter's three grandchildren. We wish them well during these difficult times as they grieve Peter’s passing. The family has asked that in lieu of sending flowers or other tokens, you honor Peter by continuing his legacy and spending your energy and time mentoring a student.
