Friends remember ‘legendary’ Judge McEwen
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » The Delaware County legal community lost a giant of a jurist last week with the April 26 death of Judge Stephen J. McEwen Jr., according to colleagues.
“He was literally legendary among the bar,” said Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Frank T. Hazel. “He was a very intelligent man and with it he was somebody who was pretty much a regular guy. He affected everybody that way – it was hard to find somebody who didn’t like Steve.”
McEwen, 85, of Newtown Square, received his Jurist Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1957 and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1986.
A Republican, he served two terms as Delaware County District Attorney from 1967 to 1976 (where he was succeeded by Hazel) before his 1981 appointment to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. McEwen remained in that position for more than 30 years, including five as President Judge and ten additional years as President Judge Emeritus.
He suffered a rare loss to Democrat Bob Edgar in the tumultuous 1974 race for the 7th Congressional District.
Hazel described him as a good jurist with a courteous disposition who always looked for the bright side of everyone’s personality.
It was a sentiment shared by Judge Barry Dozor, who called McEwen “a magnificent man and a true patriot.” A lifelong Delaware County resident, McEwen returned to the Delco bench after stepping down from the Superior Court in 2012. He handled hundreds of cases as a civil division court conciliator before his retirement earlier this year.
Delaware County Common Pleas Court President Judge Kevin F. Kelly commented on McEwen’s seemingly boundless intellectual curiosity and unwavering dedication to public service for more than five decades. Kelly said he had achieved a level of admiration in the legal community that few could hope to match.
“In these times of technologically driven fleeting attentions, this eminently remarkable Renaissance man was in every truest sense of the word an enduring icon among the bar and bench,” said Kelly. “He was a veritable friend, an inestimable mentor and invaluable source of professional wisdom to many of the past and present members of the Delaware County bench.”
McEwen also spent plenty of time on the other side of the bench, working as a trial lawyer in private practice for 23 years, as well as a lecturer and colleges.
A published author of numerous legal articles and a 1997 book, “Not Even Dicta,” McEwen also served on numerous associations, received scores of accolades, and chaired the panel charged with redrawing state House and Senate district boundaries in 2011. McEwen even brought his judicial insights to an international scale when he was appointed Honorary Consul of Bulgaria in 2005.
McEwen additionally holds the distinction of being one of just 11 judges to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal, where he was a member since 1996 and served as president in 2003 and 2004.
“It’s the passing of a tradition in the Delaware County Bar,” said Hazel. “He was that well known, that well liked and that well respected.” at universities