Sheila McGovern, Patience, Compassion On Bench, 65
DGH
Judge Sheila McGovern, whose chamber at Middlesex Family and Probate
Court in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was decorated with many photos of the
thousands of adoptive families she aided, died Tuesday, November 12,
2002, in Cambridge Hospital, apparently of a heart attack, at the age of
65.
During her 28 years on the bench, Judge McGovern went to great lengths
to make sure adoption proceedings weren't sterile civil ceremonies.
"Adoption wasn't just a procedure to her; it was a very important
passage," John Buonomo, Middlesex County register of probate, said
yesterday. "She always advised families to bring along a camera. And,
after the ceremony, she ordered the parents to take the children to
their favorite restaurant to celebrate."
During the ceremonies, Judge McGovern entertained kids with puppets of
Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse. She also read aloud a James Agee passage
that reads in part, "I hear my father and my mother and they are my
giants. My king and my queen beside whom there are no others so wise."
Judge McGovern also knew wisdom is not a prerequisite for marriage; she
presided over thousands of divorces. "She was a very compassionate judge
who made it a point to take the time to listen to both sides in any
argument," said Buonomo.
"She dealt with a lot of unruly, unrepresented people and she always let
them have their say," said Assistant Register Maria Nannini Dunn.
When Dunn once asked Judge McGovern why she was so patient, the judge
quoted her mother: ''When someone is a guest in your house, you treat
them as a guest no matter how they behave.''
The judge added that she preferred to let everyone have their say in the
hope that maybe they would feel better about the judicial process and
its results.
Judge McGovern was born in Cambridge. She graduated from Boston College
and Boston College Law School, then served as a probate court clerk and
assistant register of the court before she was appointed to the
judgeship in 1974. She became first justice in 1980.
A dark-haired woman who was always elegantly dressed, Judge McGovern
drove an unpretentious gray Honda. She was often the first one in the
courthouse in the morning and the last to leave.
She also could be very thorough. Once, after being asked to rule on the
competency of a man who was said to be ''brain-dead'' and languishing in
Cambridge Hospital, she made a visit. She placed a finger in the
patient's hand and asked him to squeeze it if he could hear her. To the
surprise of the attending physician, the patient squeezed. Judge
McGovern then asked the patient a series of questions, to which he
responded by squeezing yes or no, and was able to determine his
intentions.
Last year, in a well-publicized case, Judge McGovern ruled in favor of a
7-year-old girl who asked that her father be buried near her in Waltham,
rather than in Wareham where the man's parents wished to bury him. The
matter - which was really a legal dispute between the girl's mother and
the mother of the deceased - was resolved after Judge McGovern asked a
court psychologist to determine the wishes of the girl.
"She wanted to be fair and reasonable and was always worrying about her
judgments," said First Assistant Register Marie Gardin. "She lived her
job, day and night."
Yesterday, photos of Judge McGovern were on display on a table outside
Courtroom One, where she had presided. As the day progressed, the table
filled with floral bouquets from admirers.
Boston Globe
brez...@msn.com
She now must answer, to a much higher authority.
I hope she is shown the same level of compassion, as she afforded the men, who stood before her, in her court room.
Say good night Sheila.
And "You keep quiet!!"