Among other things, Federal Judge Gene B. Lee was known for his mentoring of young lawyers.
Lee died at the age of 82 Thursday at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
Lee was an attorney for the city of Warsaw in 1948, then became Kosciusko County's prosecuting attorney in 1949 and held that post until 1952.
In 1963, he was named as judge of Kosciusko County Circuit Court. During that time there was only Circuit Court and Superior Court 1 in the county.
Attorney Tom Lemon, who began practicing law in Warsaw in 1967, said the way Lee mentored young lawyers was one of his greatest traits.
"As a young lawyer, you could not have had a better role model as a judicial officer as you could in Judge Lee," Lemon said.
"He did everything he could to make young lawyers good."
"He had the respect of all the lawyers," said current Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Hearn. "He was hard on young lawyers but he taught them a lot."
Both Hearn and Lemon spoke of the respect Lee had with lawyers from South Bend and Fort Wayne.
During Lee's tenure in Kosciusko County, the state's change of venue laws were different and many lawyers from Allen and St. Joseph counties wanted Lee to hear their case.
"He was an excellent student of the law," said Lemon. "He was fair, impartial and knowledgeable. And that's what you want from a judge."
In 1979, his tenure in the county ended as he was named a U.S. magistrate, though he continued to live in Warsaw.
Lemon also talked about how Lee was down to earth.
"He wasn't aloof. After he retired, he learned how to type and use the Internet. He often drove cancer patients to their treatments because he loved to talk and that gave him a chance to do that. He didn't act any better than anyone else."
Lee's full obituary can be found on 3A of today's edition.
