‘True giant of a man’
Colleagues recall Judge Horace Davenport
NORRISTOWN >> With fond memories and deep admiration, Montgomery County Senior Judge Emanuel A. Bertin couldn’t help but be drawn this week to a framed poem that hangs on the wall of his chambers — a gift from fellow colleague Horace A. Davenport, who recently passed away.
“It’s just beautiful. He always gave me good advice. I treasure this,” Bertin said as he stared at the framed poster of “Desiderata,” a prose poem by writer Max Ehrmann that addresses the meaning of life.
Davenport, who died March 21 at the age of 98, had passed the framed poem to Bertin in January 2003 as Davenport cleaned his chambers and boxed up his belongings upon his retirement at 84. Bertin, who became a judge in 1996, vividly remembers the pri-
vate meeting in Davenport’s chambers.
“He said, ‘What’s the matter, Manny, you’re sad.’ I said, ‘I’m very sad to see you go,’” Bertin, choking up a bit as he fondly recalled the conversation he had with the legal giant he considered a mentor.
“He said, ‘Well, don’t be sad,’” said Bertin, adding Davenport handed him the framed poem that he described as “a code for the way you should live your life.” “He said, ‘It will be my gift to you and you should live by it.’”
On the brown paper backing of the frame Davenport wrote, “To my damn good friend Manny Bertin, J — Horace A. Davenport Sr. J.”
“He was like a father to me,” Bertin said as he looked at the inscription, adding since Davenport’s death he’s been showing the cherished possession to other judges and lawyers. “I loved his laugh, his presence, his warmth. He was so down to earth.”
The first African American judge to sit on the county bench, Davenport, of Norristown, was remembered by colleagues as “a fine gentleman” and “a true giant of a man” who loved the legal profession. Davenport served on the court as a judge and as a senior judge from 1976 to 2003.
Current President Judge Thomas M. DelRicci, who was installed as a judge in 1998, said Davenport, at that time a senior judge, was an important presence in his judicial life.
“He was a great mentor and a true giant of a man. He was a great judge and a friend to every judge on this court,” DelRicci said. “I don’t think there was a judge who served who didn’t feel they could go to Horace at any time and get good advice.
“He really taught me about the history of this Montgomery County bench and taught me a lot about how to be a judge,” the 62-year-old DelRicci added.
Born in 1919 in Newberry, S.C., Davenport was the son of a farmer and the grandson of a slave and his early years coincided with the “Great Migration” of blacks from the South to what were considered better opportunities in the North, according to his obituary.
“I learned about his background when I first became a judge in 1996 when the Bar Association was honoring Horace,” said Bertin, who was asked to speak at the event. “I learned all about his early life. There was just something about him.”
In his obituary, family members recalled Davenport “experienced many of the indignities that those of his race have been subjected to over the years. He was able to rise above these adversities through his respect and appreciation for hard work, his calm temperament and the continual respect and care for his fellow citizens.”
A graduate of Howard University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Master of Science in economics from the Wharton School in 1947 and a law degree in 1950, Davenport entered private practice in Norristown in 1951. He was a founding partner of the law firm Gerber Davenport and Wilenzik, in 1971 and ran successfully for judge in 1975.
Davenport began his stint as a senior judge in 1989, which is also when he began a dispute-resolution program to chip away at the backlog of more than 4,000 civil cases.
When Davenport left his judgeship, that backlog was down to about 400 cases, and the wait for a civil trial was down from two years to less than six months.
“What got me about him? His ability to size up a case no matter how complex, to distill it to plain terms, and to reach a practical, pragmatic solution,” Bertin said. “He could settle practically any case because he had that uncanny ability to take a simplistic approach to it.”
Davenport’s efforts won him many accolades, including the Golden Crowbar Award from the state Conference of Trial Judges in 1996 for his ability to pry loose hardened disputes and reach agreements.
In 2001, the Montgomery Bar Association opened the county’s first dispute resolution facility run entirely by bar members, and named it after Davenport.
“He was a fine gentleman, an all-around good guy, very collegial,” said Senior Judge Joseph A. Smyth. “I enjoyed talking to him tremendously about the law and his own personal life. He was quite an interesting person.”
Davenport was already on the county bench when Smyth was installed as a judge in 1984.
“When they imposed an 80-year-old retirement age on senior judges, Horace was either 83 or 84 at that time and was still very fit and very involved intellectually. He was still doing good work. He had a love for law. He had a love for life. I think he walked every day to work.”
Many at the courthouse recalled Davenport walking to the courthouse from his Norristown area home and turning down rides from other lawyers or courthouse employees who passed him.
During an interview with The Mercury and the Times Herald upon his retirement in 2003, a humble Davenport declined to brag about his record.
“I’m not proud,” Davenport said at the time. “I looked at it as a job to be done. I’m glad I was able to serve.”
During that interview, Davenport recalled working on his family’s South Carolina farm as a child and absorbing his grandfather’s work ethic.
“My grandfather would be very unhappy if he knew I was going to be doing nothing,” Davenport said in 2003. “He didn’t believe in retirement. He believed in working right up until the end.”
Retirement came by order, not by choice, for Davenport. The state Supreme Court in April 2002 amended the rules to call for the mandatory retirement at the end of the calendar year in which a judge turned 80. Davenport was 84 then.
About his love for the legal profession, Davenport said at the time, “I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else.”
He is survived by his loving wife of 73 years, Alice, and four children, three grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. A memorial service, open to the public, is planned for May.
“You respected him. He was so logical. He was very articulate. I will miss him,” said Bertin, who along with his wife last visited Davenport three months ago.
During that visit, Bertin noticed Davenport had placed his old “Attorney at Law” sign “right on his front door.”
“He was so proud to be in the legal profession. He was so proud to be a lawyer,” Bertin said. “He loved the law, as a lawyer and as a judge.”