Judge served his city, county, country well

Published 9:42 am Thursday, January 3, 2019

 

Judge Donald J. Floyd retired Monday with appropriate acclaim and thanks from area citizens and fellow lawyers. Expressions of public appreciation were well deserved.

A Port Arthur native, he served almost three decades in civil court in the 172nd District, retiring at the state-mandated age of 75. He served the citizens honorably and well.

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Floyd’s retirement is especially noteworthy for the service he extended not only to the court but also through myriad social and charitable works. He was not only a dedicated judge, but also a devoted and active member of the community, ever with an eye toward serving the public good. He was of this community and for this community.

The mayor and City Council in his native Port Arthur, in declaring Donald J. Floyd Day on Dec. 18, noted Floyd’s service to social fraternities, where he mentored young people in this community. His work included a short stint on the Municipal Court here — he’d come “full circle” in accepting Mayor Derrick Freeman’s proclamation, he said — time as a trustee on the Port Arthur ISD board, and six years as a County Court of Law judge.

He’d volunteered for the Boy Scouts; at his church, Sacred Heart-St. Mary Catholic Church; with the Knights of Columbus; the Serra Club; and as a church usher; with the Bar Association; with the Kiwanis Club; and much more.

He’d been honored by the YMCA, the American Heart Association, Business and Professional Women, Lincoln High School, and countless others.

Better yet, he could take great pride in his own record for the commitment and integrity he brought to the bench. He was admitted to practice before all the courts of Texas and the District of Columbia, where he served the federal government as a Justice Department attorney, working on fair housing cases. Those courts where he was admitted to practice included the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Appointed by Gov. Bill Clements, a Republican, to the 172nd District Court in 1989, he prepared for his position by earning certification in civil law/personal injury from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Floyd credits his grandparents, who raised him in Port Arthur; Elmo Willard and Theodore Johns, pioneers as black attorneys in Jefferson County; and teachers at Abraham Lincoln High; among others, for making him the judge he has been.

But Floyd himself deserves credit for staying the course, for gaining universal respect in this community and by establishing himself as a role model for everyone he met. He won election seven times to the 172nd; he left with the people’s support.

That’s a legacy all public leaders should seek.