11/03/2014
It is with regret the passing of our Assistant Head Coach/ Judge Don Ford.
Retired Judge and Attorney Donald R. Ford Sr. passed away November 1, 2014 at 3:05am at Euclid Medical Center.
He was born on November 8, 1931 in Warren, the son of E. L. Ford and Jean M. Bochniak.
Judge Ford was a June, 1949 graduate of Warren G. Harding High School.
On August 20, 1955, he married Janet L. Lofgren in Royal Oak, Michigan, whom he met on a blind date while he was attending the Law School at the University of Michigan and she was earning her undergraduate degree in education at the University. They celebrated their 59th anniversary on August 20th.
While at Harding High School, he was the first Ohio recipient of the National Elks Scholarship Award; was Secretary of the American National Junior Red Cross; was first runner-up nationally for junior keynote speaker at the American Red Cross Convention in 1949. He was President of the Harding Student Body and was his Class President. He lettered in baseball and basketball and received the Outstanding Player Award, Trumbull County American Legion baseball in 1948 and was a member of Harding’s 1948 State Runner-up baseball team. His High School Counselor, Mary Duck, had inspired in him as part of his philosophy of life that he should be involved in young student activities and be a source of support and aid to such young people. As a result of this commitment he never turned down a request to be a commencement speaker or to participate in a worthy school program.
Following graduation from Harding, he earned his B.A. in 1953 from Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, Cum Laude with Honors. He served as President of the Student Body and was his Class President; he was the assistant editor of the school year book, the “Bethanlan”; he was the Commander of his chapter of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. He served several years on Bethany’s Alumni Council. Judge Ford received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1956; was a quarter finalist in the Campbell Moot Court competition and was a member of Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity. He was closely involved for several decades with the University of Michigan football team. He had close friendships with several of its coaches and was instrumental in the successful recruitment of local athletes to the storied Wolverine football team.
Judge Ford had been engaged in the practice of law in Warren for over 15 years before assuming the position of Judge of the Warren Municipal Court in 1972. In November, 1976, he was successful in his efforts for an unexpired term on the Trumbull County Common Pleas bench. He ran for the full term for this post beginning January, 1979, and was unopposed. During his years as a practicing attorney, he had served as Assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor; and subsequent to that, for a number of years as Special Counsel to the Trumbull County Commissioners and the Trumbull County Engineer. He had represented several school boards in Trumbull County, and was especially familiar with public boards and school financial problems including preparation of levy and bond issues. He was Administrative Judge of the Warren Municipal and General Division of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas; and was elected to the bench of the Eleventh District Court of Appeals in 1982. He has been the Presiding and Administrative Judge of that court for several years. He was a candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court in May, 1986. He had sat by assignment on the Ohio Supreme Court. He was Chairman of the Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee. He also served on the Supreme Court’s Committee on the Rules of Superintendence, as Chairman of the Appellate Judges’ Policy Committee, and was Vice-Chair of the Meetings Committee on the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association. He was formerly the Chief Justice of the Ohio Courts of Appeals Judges Association. Judge Ford had been an assistant Professor at the Trumbull Branch of Kent State University, where he taught courses in criminal law and criminal evidence for over 28 years. He was the first attorney and Judge from Trumbull County to serve on all four levels of the Ohio Judicial System, and also was Trumbull County’s longest serving jurist for over 35 years. Following his retirement from the bench in 2007, he joined his son, Donald R. Ford Jr. in the practice of law in his law firm of Ford and Ford, which later became the firm of Ford, Gold, Kavor and Simon. In recent years he served the firm on an “Of Counsel” status.
In 1972, Judge Ford was named as the Trumbull County Democratic Man of the Year. In 1975, he was awarded the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Warren Urban League. In 1982, Judge Ford received the Ohio Elks Hall of Fame Award and Received the “Spirit of ‘87 Award for Liberty Through Law”. He was honored with the Bethany College Distinguished Service to Alma Mater Alumni Award in May, 1994.
Judge Ford has been very active in community activities and youth programs. He was the founder of the Warren Sports Hall of Fame on whose board he served for many decades, served on the Board of the Warren Football Association, was the President of the Howland Athletic Club, and active in sandlot baseball. Judge Ford initiated the creation of the Howland Park. A list of other civic boards and activities with which he has been involved are: Member of Warren Elks Lodge #295, United Appeal, Hi-Y Advisor, Cub Scout Chairman, Bar Association Explorer Group, PTA President, and Trumbull County Red Cross Blood Chairman. He has also served as chairman for certain charitable drives and school levies in Trumbull County, some of which included Muscular Dystrophy and Fairhaven School for the Re****ed. He was formerly on the board of Trumbull County March of Dimes, Crippled Children’s Society, the Trumbull County Agricultural Society, Mental Health Center, County Council on Alcoholism, Trumbull County Chapter of the American Red Cross, Warren Area Jaycees, and the Trumbull County Bar Association Executive Committee. He was a committee member of the Community Partnership for a Drug Free Trumbull County, and served on the Trumbull County Law Library Board for many years starting in 1977. He was also a member of the Trumbull County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations.
He is survived by his wife, his son, John A. (Amy) Ford; his daughter Leslie J. (Gregg Crane) Ford; daughter Ann (Dan Shepherd) Ford and daughter-in-law Sharon Ford. He leaves seven grandchildren, Rory Ford, Devin Ford, Jaclyn Ford, Bryan Ford, David Ford, Zoe Crane and Cole Shepherd.
He was preceded in death by his parents and son Donald R. Ford Jr.
A mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00am Thursday, November 6, 2014, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Warren, Ohio, where the family will receive friends from 9:00am to 11:00am at the church. The Rev. Bernard Schmalzried celebrant. Burial will follow in All Souls Cemetery in Cortland, Ohio.
The family requests material contributions take the form of tribute to: The Warren Sports Hall of Fame, c/o Shawn Bryant, P. O. Box 1444, Warren, Ohio, or The Howland Band Boosters, c/o Gregg Rezabek, 200 Shaffer Drive, Warren, Ohio 44484, or St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 232 Seneca Avenue NE, Warren, Ohio, 44481, In Memory of Attorney Donald R. Ford Sr.
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