By Matthew Hill
Register-Herald Reporter
January 12, 2009 10:47 pm
—
Charles Berkley Lilly, who served Raleigh County as a member of the House of Delegates, a prosecuting attorney and a circuit judge, passed away Saturday at Bowers Hospice House on his 86th birthday.
Lilly leaves behind his wife of 61 years, Anna Lee Bowyer Lilly, along with two daughters, four granddaughters and several nieces and nephews. “My dad loved the practice of law. He loved the human-interest aspect,” said daughter Ellen File.
“He never found his work boring or routine and sometimes found it amusing. Although I am not sure he would have put it this way, he enjoyed the opportunity to craft positive solutions to the problems presented to him — either as someone’s attorney or as the judge hearing a matter.”
File recalled a situation once where a young man appeared before Judge Lilly on a criminal matter. Rather than hurling fire and brimstone down upon the youthful offender, Lilly proffered something else — encouragement.
“He thought what the fellow needed most was encouragement to turn his life around. My dad, in effect, sentenced him to college — making the arrangements and finding the funds to get him started,” File noted.
Former Raleigh County prosecuting attorney Larry Frail, who began his tenure under Lilly, has fond memories of the man who he said he was “proud to call my friend.”
“He was a gentleman, a legal scholar, an excellent judge, and he’s in heaven,” he said. “I’m very sure of that. He was a good man.”
Raleigh County Circuit Judge Robert Burnside succeeded Lilly upon his retirement in 1988.
Burnside said he particularly remembers how on top of his cases Lilly was.
“There are always cases pending,” Burnside said. “But the thing that so impressed me was he was all caught up. He was a very efficient, knowledgeable and an excellent judge.
“It’s a great loss to the community and to the legal profession.”
In addition to his judicial duties, File said her father also loved politics, especially of the Democratic variety. “Even though I spent time as a kid helping with his campaigns, I am not sure I appreciated the fierceness of his convictions until I mentioned to him a few days before I was to leave for my first semester of college that I had gone to the courthouse to register to vote,” she recounted.
“When he offered no response, I asked, ‘Don’t you want to know how I registered?’ His response then was quick — ‘I know how you registered if you want me to pay for your college.’ All kidding aside, my dad believed — whether at the polls or serving on a jury — that people given accurate information would make the right choice, and he respected both their right to do so and the decisions they made. My dad taught my sister and me many things — the importance of family, to work hard and do our best, to give back to our community, and the priority of church and faith.”
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at United Methodist Temple in Beckley, with the Rev. Dr. Charles Pullins officiating. A reception will follow in the church’s Friendship Hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to United Methodist Temple, 201 Templeview Drive, Beckley, WV 25801; the Judge C. Berkley and Lee Lilly Scholarship Fund of the Beckley Area Foundation, 129 Main St., Beckley, WV 25801; or the Bowers Hospice House, 454 Cranberry Drive, Beckley, WV 25801.
Arrangements are being made by Melton Mortuary in Beckley.
n n n
Lilly received a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia Institute of Technology, where he played baseball. Although offered a minor league baseball contract, Lilly opted to follow his boyhood dream of being a lawyer. He received his law degree from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond in January 1947.
Lilly returned to Beckley and, after passing the West Virginia State Bar exam in March 1947, began his long legal career on April 1 of that year as an associate at Ashworth and Sanders. Following a 22-month stint as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, Lilly returned to practicing law in Beckley and served as a police judge under three mayors.
Lilly began a long and successful political career in 1960 when he was first elected to the House of Delegates. After being re-elected in 1962, he served for four years as Raleigh County prosecutor. He was then elected circuit judge for the 10th Judicial Circuit in 1968, 1976 and 1984.
Following his retirement in 1988, Lilly once again entered private practice with Gorman, Sheatsley and Hutchison. He was also certified as a mediator and arbiter, work which he continued doing well into his 80s. Lilly referred to his securities arbitration work as “intellectually stimulating” and very enjoyable in an interview with The Register-Herald in 2005.
He was active in the Raleigh County Bar Association, the West Virginia State Bar, and the West Virginia Judicial Association, holding all offices in both the Raleigh County Bar and the Judicial Association. Lilly also served on the Board of Governors for the State Bar. He was the president of the West Virginia University College of Law Alumni Association, the first non-alumnus so elected.
Lilly was active in both church and civic affairs. He and his wife joined Methodist Temple in 1950. He served on the Administrative Council, the Board of Trustees, and the finance committee. He was also part of the group that spearheaded the location of a Methodist orphanage — the Beckley Child Care Center, now the Beckley Campus of Burlington United Methodist Family Services — in Beckley.
He was a member of Masonic Lodge No. 95 AF and AM of Beckley, the Shriners, Elks, Moose, and Black Knight Country Club, and served on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Southern West Virginia and Theatre West Virginia.
Through the Beckley Area Foundation, Lilly and his wife set up and funded two scholarship funds. They also contributed significantly to the Beckley Campus School at Burlington.
— Register-Herald reporter Michelle James contributed to this story.
— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.