[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 108 (Friday, July 11, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1146-E1147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE JAMES TURK

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 11, 2014

  Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I submit these remarks in 
honor of U.S. District Judge James Turk, a devoted public servant to 
the Commonwealth of Virginia, who passed away on July 6, 2014.
  Judge Turk grew up on a farm in Roanoke County, and graduated from 
William Byrd High School. He served in the U.S. Army, and went on to 
graduate from Roanoke College. He won a scholarship to Washington & Lee 
University School of Law, and went on to practice law in Radford for 
many years with the firm of Dalton, Poff, & Turk.
  He served in the Virginia State Senate from 1959 until 1972, and was 
the Senate Minority Leader from 1965 until 1972. In October of 1972, 
Judge Turk was appointed by President Nixon to the United States 
District Court for the Western District of Virginia. In 2002, 30 years 
later, Judge Turk claimed senior status but, though a successor was 
appointed at that time, he continued hearing cases.
  I and others who have practiced before Judge Turk found him to be 
honorable, helpful, friendly, and very sharp. John Fishwick, a 
prominent Roanoke attorney who clerked for Judge Turk in the 1980s and 
has appeared before him in court, said, ``He had one of the sharpest 
legal minds I've ever known, and he also cared greatly about the people 
who came before him. Those people mattered so much to him.'' Circuit 
Court Judge Clifford Weckstein wrote this week, ``He loved coming to 
work. He loved his job. And his job, as he saw it, was to do justice, 
every day and in every way.'' And Tom Bondurant, a former assistant 
U.S. attorney now in private practice, said, ``He had a fine sense of 
right and wrong, and he always tried to do what was right.''
  Judge Turk was involved in additional public service work and 
charitable work, including serving as President of the Roanoke College 
Alumni Association, membership in the Roanoke College Society of 1842, 
and on the Boards of Directors for the Radford University Foundation 
and the C.E. Richardson Foundation. He also was a trustee for the 
Radford Community Hospital. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws 
degree by Roanoke College in 1996 for his service and devotion to his 
alma mater.
  He is survived by his brother, S. Maynard Turk and wife Pat; his 
beloved wife, Barbara Duncan Turk; his children, Ramona Turk, Jimmy 
Turk and wife Allison, Bobby Turk and wife Laura, Mary Turk Prince and 
husband Scott, Michael Turk and wife Barbara; and grandchildren.
  Judge Turk was dedicated to his family, and was dedicated to his 
work. He was very well respected, a devoted public servant, and a noble 
defender of the rule of law. He had a tremendous impact on our 
community and upon countless individuals all across the region. Though 
Judge Turk will be greatly missed, his legacy and influence will long 
be remembered.
  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Judge Turk's family and other 
loved ones at this time. May God give them comfort.

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