[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 14, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             IN MEMORY OF JUDGE H. CLIFTON McWILLIAMS, JR.

                                 ______


                          HON. SAM COPPERSMITH

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 1994

  Mr. COPPERSMITH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
memory of Judge H. Clifton McWilliams, Jr., of Johnstown, PA, who died 
suddenly last month. I knew Judge McWilliams and his wife personally, 
for he and my late father were partners together in their law firm in 
Johnstown for a decade until the Judge's election to the bench.
  An article from the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat may provide a sense of 
the character, integrity, and kindness of Judge McWilliams. He served 
his community wisely and well, and was and will remain an inspiration 
to me and so many others who knew him.

             Cambria Mourns Sudden Death of Long-Time Judge

                           (By Kathy Mellott)

       Ebensburg.--Senior Cambria County Judge Clifton McWilliams 
     of Westmont died Tuesday, two days before his 76th birthday.
       ``It was a shock to everyone,'' said Janice McWilliams the 
     judge's wife of 32 years.
       ``He didn't look or act his age.''
       Mrs. McWilliams said her husband died of a massive heart 
     attack.
       McWilliams, who played golf on Monday, still served on the 
     Cambria County bench after his official retirement, handling 
     nearly 600 drunken-driving and first-time-offender cases a 
     year, and worked as a visiting judge in a number of 
     surrounding counties.
       The judge's death came as a shock to his friends and 
     colleagues, who said he will be remembered as a good person 
     and a fair judge.
       Cambria President Judge Gerard Long said it will be 
     difficult to fill the gap created by McWilliams' death.
       Last week, county work crews completed renovations of 
     McWilliams' chambers on the third floor of the courthouse, 
     work for which he was very appreciative, Long said.
       ``There wasn't a mean bone in that man's body,'' the 
     president judge said.
       ``He was really a gentleman's gentleman.''
       Senior Judge Eugene Creany had lunch with McWilliams in 
     Ebensburg Monday and said he appeared to be in excellent 
     spirits.
       ``He loved lawyers and he went to all ends to try to 
     satisfy everybody,'' Creany said.
       ``He had a quality that he hated to hurt anybody.''
       He called McWilliams a ``very good judge.''
       Carl Harrison of Middle Taylor Township said he met 
     McWilliams when the judge was traveling around the county 
     with his father, the late H.C. McWilliams, one of Cambria 
     County's first farm agents.
       In 1955, when McWilliams was appointed to the bench, he 
     brought Harrison to Ebensburg to work as his court officer, a 
     position Harrison held for 33 years.
       In recalling his years in the courtroom, Harrison said it 
     was not unusual for McWilliams to seek Harrison's opinion on 
     the credibility of witnesses, especially when hearing non-
     jury trials.
       ``He would often ask me which one I thought was lying,'' 
     Harrison said.
       McWilliams was a 1940 graduate of Pennsylvania State 
     University, where he was captain of the men's basketball team 
     and was named outstanding senior.
       He earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania 
     and attended Harvard for one year before returning to Cambria 
     County to practice law.
       He was a naval officer in the Pacific during World War II.
       In January 1955, McWilliams was appointed to a one-year 
     unexpired term on the Cambria County Court. He was a 
     candidate for a full term as judge in the general election in 
     November of that year, but lost in a close race to Alton 
     McDonald.
       In 1963, McWilliams was elected to the court.
       He was named president judge in 1974, a post he held until 
     stepping down in 1988.