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Trumbull Judge Donald Ford recalled as 'mentor,' 'respected'
WARREN
Judge Donald R. Ford Sr. was a mentor to area attorneys and had great passion and respect for the law, members of the legal community say.
He also had a love for Warren and Howland, the communities in which he grew up, lived and worked.
Judge Ford, who retired from the 11th District Court of Appeals in 2007, died early Saturday at Euclid Medical Center. He was 82.
“Judge Ford was a mentor to many of us, particularly to me,” said Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan of Kinsman.
“He was one of the real leaders around here. He had a passion for the law. He was articulate, and even entertaining, in some of his decisions and his criticisms. I enjoyed Judge Ford at all times. You could always rely on him to give you counsel if you needed it. He was a great judge,” Judge Logan said.
After Judge Ford’s retirement from the bench in 2007, he and his son, Atty. Donald R. Ford Jr., formed the law firm of Ford and Ford in Howland, which later became Ford, Gold, Kavor and Simon.
“I don’t know anybody who was more respected than Judge Ford for his judicial scholarship, character and exercise of judicial authority and care and compassion for those who appeared before him,” said his partner, Atty. Ned Gold Jr.
“But make no mistake, he came down hard on lawyers who weren’t prepared and on time,” Gold added.
Judge Ford was looked up to and respected here and around the state, but he was not arrogant, colleagues said.
“While attorneys went to him for advice, when he didn’t know something he was not too proud to ask for help himself,” Gold said.
“As far as I am aware, Judge Ford was the only judge who has served at all levels: Warren Municipal Court, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, 11th District Court of Appeals, and as a designated Ohio Supreme Court judge for certain cases,” Gold said.
“Judge Ford was an outstanding member of the judicial community. His death is a great loss. He taught us all very well, and will be missed,” said 11th District Court of Appeals Judge Diane V. Grendell.
“I knew Judge Ford real well. I argued before him many times. The one thing you knew, you better be prepared, because he was. When everyone is prepared, you end up with a much more meaningful decision. You can really get to the issue,” said Judge Timothy P. Cannon, presiding and administrative judge of the 11th District Court of Appeals, the same position held by Judge Ford before his retirement.
Judge Cannon, in his fourth year as the administrative judge, said he relied on Judge Ford, who swore him into office.
“I’ll be in debt to him for all the time for the advice he shared with me,” Judge Cannon said.
Judge Cannon said he has been involved with the Court of Appeals Judges Association for several years.
Judge Ford was a member of the Trumbull County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations.
It wasn’t just in the legal community for which he was well known and respected. He also was a community, school and sports leader.
A 1949 graduate of Warren G. Harding High School, where he was president of the student body and his class, he was a member of Harding’s 1948 state runner-up baseball team.
He graduated in 1953 from Bethany College in West Virginia, where he also was student body president and class president, and received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1956.
Judge Ford was the founder of the Warren Sports Hall of Fame, former president of the Howland Athletic Club, and initiated creation of Howland Park.
He also was a family man.
“Our father was such a hard-working man. My overall sense of him was someone who had incredible energy and was optimistic and eternally upbeat,” said his daughter, Atty. Leslie J. Crane of Ann Arbor, Mich.
Crane said she has many memories of her father.
“He would come home from work and sit down in his easy chair with a stack of law books. We kids and the dogs would curl up on his lap, and he would read his law books, Crane said.
“Our father always encouraged us to think independently. And I think as a lawyer and judge, he was an independent thinker, although I know he always respected the rule of law. He thought it was his job to follow the rule of law and not create law,” she said.
Crane said some of her happiest memories of her father, an avid gardener, include picking weeds together in his huge garden amd being in the sun and having a quiet time together.
“He was hard-driving man, but in the garden he was different. It was his place of calm and quiet, one place he could go and forget work,” she said.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Catholic Church, Warren, where the family will receive friends from 9 to 11 a.m. Burial will follow in All Souls Cemetery in Cortland.
The family requests that material contributions take the form of tributes in memory of Attorney Donald R. Ford Sr. to the Warren Sports Hall of Fame in care of Shawn Bryant, P.O. Box 1444, Warren, OH; or the Howland Band Boosters, in care of Gregg Rezabek, 200 Shaffer Drive, Warren, OH 44484; or St. Mary Catholic Church, 232 Seneca Ave. N.E., Warren, OH 44481. Arrangements are by Staton-Borowski Funeral Home, Warren.