JUDGE HOWARD F. REED, JR.
The just man is a man unto himself, and
He does not need to summon the law from afar,
For he carries it enclosed in his heart.
So declared lawyer, later President,
Abraham Lincoln in 1851.
We tonight honor Judge Howard F. Reed, Jr. As we do so, we celebrate the magnificent contribution to the cause of justice in DelawareCounty, as well as the course of jurisprudence in Pennsylvania, which have been the achievements of Judge Reed. As he dons the venerable judicial robe of Senior Judge, to further pursue a career of devotion to the law, we all embrace him warmly and fondly – in deed, an in thought.
I am certain that my brief remarks but echo the feelings of all of us who have been his friends, who have been his colleagues at the Bar, and who have been his associates upon the Bench, for he has served superbly, not simply his beloved County of Delaware, but also the goal of his profession, the pursuit of justice, both as an attorney and as a Judge.
All of our thoughts and expressions spring, of course, from a deep well of admiration, respect and affection. With us, he is our colleague; for us, he is an ideal. The fact is that, whenever I start to tell someone of my affection for him, I am interrupted with tales about Howard that reveal my listeners admire and respect him every bit as deeply do I. And, as you know, the number who hold him in deep esteem and high respect is legion.
Howard is the splendid Judge – patient teacher, kindly counselor, versatile thinker, and wise scholar. As much as we in the law admire Howard for his special insight, we salute him particularly for a gentle and pure spirit committed powerfully to that which is kindly and just in government affairs and human relations.
It is so facile for counsel who prevails to praise the trial judge, for such praise enables counsel to reiterate their own success. When counsel who has not prevailed praises the judge, sincerity cannot be suspect – and, as we know, Howard has ever so frequently been the recipient of bouquets of praise form counsel who has not prevailed. Surely, there can be no brighter reflection of his special talent.
This evening is not a valedictory – it is an accolade of affirmation, a time for celebration. It is, as well, because we honor an individual of esteem for past decades of accomplishment, a time of recollection. But while we honor Howard tonight, we are, nonetheless, mindful of the families in this county and throughout the country who are beset with the anguish of worry about their loved ones locked in mortal battle for the cause of freedom. We are then tonight both joyous and worried, but it is during reflection at such times, realizing there is no gain without pain, that the true depth of the American spirit is revealed, for we abound in thoughts of thanks, in nostalgic recollections of the past, and in reminders of the shared values that enable us to confidently contemplate the future.
Our American society has, through the past decades, been beset with turmoil and storm as radical free thinkers deface the institutions of our free society. The thought occurs that, if the law is to remain the repository of the traditional values, the Bench must not only be enlightened, its Judges must be, every bit as importantly, resolute. Literature, and even history, lesson the need for the steadfast. The clever inspire respect, but the steadfast are inspiration. And Howard is every bit of that.
Lawyers are sometimes present in court as amicus curiae: friend of the court. Howard, for DelawareCounty lawyers, is amicus consultorum juris: friend of lawyers; for the judges of Pennsylvania, he is amicus curiarum: friend of all of the courts. How interesting that, in the profession whose practitioners must be adversaries, he has no adversary . . . that in a profession which relies upon judgment by peers, he is without peer.
Howard, we your colleagues, have a continuing gratitude to you because all of us who compose the Judges of Delaware County are the beneficiaries of that success – and, of course, all of us present tonight, are grateful for your friendship, the enduring cement of the monument of life. Aristotle once posed the inquiry: “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies!” Well, tonight we are all of one soul, and it is with one heart that we say – THANK YOU, HOWARD, AND GODSPEED.