Arthur Tiernan Jr., served in Suffolk, Norfolk courts; at 79

Arthur M. Tiernan Jr. a retired Suffolk and Norfolk assistant district attorney, died Nov. 1 at Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford of pneumonia. The longtime Needham resident was 79.

Colleagues described Mr. Tiernan as a thorough and dogged prosecutor who never wanted to give up or admit defeat on a case.

District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, who began working in the office when Mr. Tiernan was a senior member, said Mr. Tiernan was well liked by colleagues and by courtroom personnel. Conley described Mr. Tiernan as unconventional and "a real courthouse personality, a real character" who was so versatile that he seemed to be part police officer and part lawyer.

"He was known as Sergeant Tiernan," he said.

Mr. Tiernan was born in Boston and raised in Brighton. He graduated from Lawrence Academy in Groton in 1949. He attended Colby College until 1951, when he joined the military.

He spent one year in the Coast Guard and then went into the Army. He was stationed in Germany from 1952 to 1956.

Before shipping out, Mr. Tiernan had met a woman in Boston whom he planned to marry, his family said. But due to his service commitments, he did not get the chance.

His Army unit had a marksman competition, with the winner getting a coveted weekend furlough. Although Mr. Tiernan didn't win, the soldier who scored the highest knew how much he wanted to get married, so he offered to switch scores so that Mr. Tiernan could go and marry his sweetheart.

In 1953, Mr. Tiernan returned to Brighton and married Grace (Gibson), who would be his wife of 55 years.

In 1959, he began attending the present-day New England School of Law in Boston, taking classes at night while working at Employers Liability Insurance Co. as a claims adjuster. He also worked other part-time jobs.

After passing the bar, Mr. Tiernan worked in a private practice for several years. In 1970, he began working for the Norfolk District Attorney's Office as a special assistant to the district attorney. A year later, he was appointed assistant district attorney, serving until 1979.

Mr. Tiernan then joined the Suffolk District Attorney's Office as assistant district attorney. He was in charge of the violent crime unit in the Suffolk Superior Court and also worked on unsolved or "cold cases."

"[He would] doggedly pursue all the witnesses that had since moved on," Conley said.

Thomas E. Dwyer Jr., a Boston-based lawyer who knew Mr. Tiernan, echoed that sentiment.

"A great tribute to a lawyer, defense lawyers and prosecutors, is that you have no enemies," Dwyer said. "I have never heard anyone say a bad word about that guy."

Mr. Tiernan not only helped people in his career but in his everyday life, according to his daughter Peg Tiernan Lyons of Winthrop.

She said that he kept their telephone number listed and people would call him, from veterans who wanted to talk about veterans' affairs or high school students who needed help with their homework. People would call late at night and into the early morning, but he was always there.

"He always took the phone calls," she said.

Mr. Tiernan was active in local and state politics. He was a member of Needham's Democratic Town Committee and the Democratic State Committee. He was also a member of the Electoral College that elected President Carter, his daughter said.

Mr. Tiernan enjoyed playing hockey. He was an avid golfer and after retiring in 1995, he began spending winters in Fort Myers, Fla., so that he could play golf more frequently.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he leaves five other daughters, Terry Gerish of Billerica, Jean Cummings of Brighton, Grace LeBlanc of Winthrop, Ann Tiernan Grant of Walpole, and Trudy Tiernan Cucinotta of Virginia Beach, Va.; and eleven grandchildren.

A service has been held.