WENATCHEE — Judge Charles Cone, involved in Chelan and Douglas county law for decades, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 84.

The former attorney, county prosecutor and Chelan-Douglas Superior Court judge worked on hundreds of cases and made thousands of decisions during his 37 years on both sides of the judge’s bench.

He retired as Superior Court judge in 1991 after 13 years at the post. His last official function as judge was a wedding ceremony for a Wenatchee couple on their way to Portugal. In the years after his retirement, the judge hiked, gardened and played with his grandchildren, according to his son Frank.

Born in Oakesdale, Cone was raised in Ephrata and Chelan. He graduated from the University of Montana Law School and practiced law in Montana and Chelan before he was elected Chelan County prosecutor in 1954. He was re-elected in 1958, but quit in 1961.

“The salary was only $4,700 per year and I had three children,” he said in a 1991 interview in the Wenatchee World. “I thought I’d better get out and start making some money.”

From 1961 to 1978, Cone worked in private practice at the firm of Cone Kiesz Gaukroger & Woolett. He left private practice to succeed Judge Lawrence Leahy, who recommended him for the Superior Court position.

Cone is survived by his wife RuthAnn Cone of Wenatchee; his children, Cathleen Sessions of East Wenatchee, and Renn Cone and Frank Cone, both of Wenatchee; and one sister, Virginia Hatcher of Wenatchee.

At Cone’s request, there will be no funeral service.

Mike Irwin: 665-1179

irwin@wenatcheeworld.com