John T. Racanelli was born in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania in 1925. The son of Italian immigrants, John Sr. and Mary Racanelli, he was raised in New York City and later in White Plains, New York. After high school, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps (now called the Air Force) and served as Lieutenant as an Aerial Navigator. He served in World War II and the Korean War for over 3 years in active duty. He was the first person in his family to attend college where he attended the University of California at Berkeley and later Hastings Law School. After college and law school, he started a private practice in San Francisco in 1953. In 1955, he moved to Sunnyvale and started practicing there. In his private practice, he specialized as a trial lawyer in all types of civil and criminal proceedings. His partners included the Honorable James Duvaras (1955 - 1963) and Anthony J. Treppel, Esq. (1963 - 1964). He was appointed to Superior Court Judge in Santa Clara County by Governor (Pat) Brown, Sr., and sworn in on October 16, 1964. He served in that capacity until he was appointed by Governor (Jerry) Brown, Jr. on May 6, 1977 to Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division One (succeeding Presiding Justice John B. Molinari). He was sworn in on June 3, 1977 and confirmed by electorate on November 7, 1978, and later reconfirmed by electorate on November 2, 1982. He retired from the bench on deferred retirement on January 31, 1991. Since his retirement, he has enjoyed his life with his wife of over 30 years, Betty Medsger. They live in New York City.
