The Hon. Horace Weldon Gilmore died Monday at the age of 91. A graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B., J.D.), Judge Gilmore served as a Wayne County circuit judge before being appointed district judge for the Eastern District of Michigan in June, 1980. Judge Gilmore was a prolific legal author and teacher, and an active contributing member of the State Bar of Michigan. The federal courthouse in Detroit will be closed at 2 p.m. Friday in his honor. Judge Gilmore served as a Wayne County Circuit Judge between 1956 and 1980. In June of 1980, he was appointed United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. He assumed Senior status on June 1, 1991, and closed his Detroit chambers on October 30, 1998.
In his honor, we offer this appreciation last year from the May-June 2008 Detroit Lawyer:
Judge Gilmore was celebrated on his 90th birthday by family and friends who remember him for his integrity, dedication, and passion to the judicial system. At 90 years old, Judge Gilmore remains a dedicated reader of the daily Detroit papers and often exhibits his quick wit and intelligence when recalling many of the remarkable cases that he presided over as a judge. He speaks with pride and happiness when recalling his many years in the courts and those that he worked with, learned from, and mentored over the years. Judge Gilmore was destined to be involved with law from an early age and graduated from the University of Michigan law school in 1942. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and later served as Deputy Attorney General of Michigan before becoming a Wayne County circuit judge. Judge Gilmore enjoyed being a mentor to law students and served for many years as an adjunct professor of law at Wayne State and also as a visiting lecturer in law at the University of Michigan. Additionally, Judge Gilmore published numerous articles for legal journals and is the author of Michigan Civil Procedure Before Trial. His passion for law extends to his membership in the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Detroit Bar Association, the American Law Institute, the American Judicature Society, and as a life member of the NAACP, to name just a few organizations.
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