Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman paid tribute to retired Fifth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Ralph Stewart Pearman whose funeral services were held Wednesday morning in Paris.
He was “a dear friend and a fine man," Garman said of Pearman, who helped shape her early legal career. She said she worked with him when she first became an attorney in1968. Pearman later selected her to serve as an associate judge in 1973.
Garman said that Pearman always wanted to step down as chief judge to let someone else preside, “but we wouldn’t let him," she said. "He was so good.”
“He was a pillar of the community in Paris," she said. "He and Mary Ann just wanted to make this a better place to live.”
Pearman, 92, died Nov. 20. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary Ann (nee Mattingly).
He served in the U.S. Army Reserve during the Korean Conflict. He was a partner in the former Massey, Anderson, & Gibson Law Firm and served in Edgar County as State's Attorney prior to receiving his initial judicial appointment.
Survivors include six children: Mary Ann (Pearman) Coombe, Matt Pearman, Julie (Pearman) Blanford, Susan (Pearman) Arp, Kay D. (Pearman) Holloway, and John Pearman; 14 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
John Pearman was a former top aide to former Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan.
Memorials may be made to the Edgar County Community Foundation or to a charity of the donor's choice.