Tom J. Keith Retirement Celebration
Toast And Roast Salutes Circuit Judge
Last updated Wednesday, November 26, 2008 8:49 PM CST in Our Town
By Debbie Miller
THE MORNING NEWS
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BENTONVILLE -- U.S. Attorney Bob Balfe recalled the moment in painful detail.
He had only been working in the prosecutor's office a couple of weeks when he was summoned to Circuit Judge Tom J. Keith's chambers. Word was that the judge was furious with the new deputy prosecutor.
All the way up the courthouse stairs, Balfe pondered what procedural blunder he could have made.
Case coordinator Terri Womack, seated outside the judge's office, had put her head down -- not a good sign at all, Balfe decided.
The judge's voice came from inside his office. "Is that you, Balf-e?" he asked. The judge's pronunciation butchered the last name (the "e" is silent), but Balfe didn't mention correcting him. He entered the chambers to face the music.
"Do you know what you're doing?" the judge asked.
Balfe tried to respond.
"Who do you think you are?"
Then came the judge's next words.
"He said, 'Only Judge Keith uses a blue pen,'" Balfe recalled.
The audience of about 250 roared.
Many of those in attendance at Keith's retirement celebration knew that the judge used blue ink exclusively so that he could identify which marks were his own.
Balfe later was Benton County prosecutor and became U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 2004. He was one of the featured roasters for the Nov. 20 event honoring the retiring judge.
Members of the bar, friends and family took turns roasting and toasting Keith on Nov. 20 at Doubletree Guest Suites & Convention Center. Sean Keith, an attorney and the judge's son, served as master of ceremonies.
There actually was no refuge in having friends and family on the program.
Sean told his father that come Jan. 1, the judge is about to enter the real world, where he will discover that not all of his jokes are funny.
"Someone's not going to laugh," the son shared. "It happens."
The judge's storytelling sessions were frequently mentioned during the evening's remarks. His insistence on proper courtroom behavior, including the silencing of cell phones, also came into play.
Roaster Rick Miller took a cell phone call in the midst of his time at the lectern.
He told the caller that he was attending an event for Judge Keith.
In answer to a supposed query at the other end of the line, Miller said, "No, there's not a damn thing he can do about it."
Attorney Kristin Pawlik, president of the Benton County Bar Association, presented the judge with a gift on behalf of the association.
She spoke of the judge's desire to dispense justice, but to do so with a measure of understanding and compassion.
He often said, "We don't all start out even," Pawlik related, noting those words had stuck and she has found them to be true.
Other items on the program included an invocation interspersed with humor from Rogers Mayor Steve Womack; a toast from attorney David Matthews; a presentation by Rosalind Mouser, president of the Arkansas Bar Association; toasts from attorneys Billy Bob Webb and Drew Miller; a roast from Jim Lingle; toasts from David Hargis and John Everett and an introduction of the judge by Circuit Judge Jay Finch for the rebuttal.
Finch encouraged others to keep good thoughts for Keith's wife, Henri.
"She's fixing to get twice the husband and half the income," he quipped.
Finch mentioned that being a judge can be a lonely position, and he thanked Keith for being a mentor and a friend.
He suggested that they would keep in touch.
"I look forward to visiting with you and hearing all the stories again," he said.
The remarks from Keith were listed as a rebuttal, but he didn't spend much time countering comments.
He thanked several people from Carroll County who attended the event. Carroll and Benton counties were served by the same circuit judges for a number of years. He thanked staff members and bailiffs who have served in his courtroom.
He also told the attorneys that it had been a source of pride for him when he would run into other judges from the state at a judicial conference. They would remark about an attorney from Benton County appearing in their courtroom and how the local attorneys displayed appropriate procedures and practiced courtesy.
He looked around the room and said it was hard not to try to comment on each person who was there.
"I'm touched and very grateful for your presence tonight," he said.
At A Glance
Tom J. Keith
Circuit Judge
Nineteenth Judicial District West, Division I (Benton County)
Keith practiced law in Rogers, first with the firm of Croxton, Boyer and Keith and later with the firm of Keith and Ford. He was appointed the Nineteenth Judicial District's first Public Defender in 1978 and was later elected Rogers Municipal Judge in 1982. He was elected Circuit Judge in 1986.
Source: Retirement Celebration program
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