He was just a great boss and a great mentor, Fohn said.

I would watch what he did and learn how to try cases. He was a great storyteller, and there was always a lesson to it, so you had to listen carefully because there was By Jane Jeschke something in there you were supSpecial to the Standard-Times posed to take with you. ___________________________ Fohn remembered one case in Royal Harts philosophy in life which Hart tried to make the jury was to see that justice was done. visualize gunshot wounds to the It was at the heart of any case he head of the victim. tried as an attorney or listened to He used a Styrofoam wig head as a judge. He understood equity and dramatically stuck pins into it. and justice. That made a real impression on He also was a gentleman and a the jury, he said. Another time great lawyer and judge. he had a case with a butcher Such praises abound among knife and he cut paper to show those who knew Ira Royal Hart, how sharp it was. who died last week at age 88, Fohn called Hart the dean of only a few years after he put Texas prosecutors. down his gavel and hung up his He just had a second sense robe. about the right thing to do at the Hart served as district attorney for right time in the courtroom, he the 119th District from 1965-82 said. And he never held a and as district judge for the 51st grudge. Whenever a case was Judicial District from 1982-92. over, hed go on to the next one. He then served as a senior disIn 1975 Fohn was elected 51st trict judge from 1992-2009. district attorney and later tried His funeral is at 3 p.m. today at several cases before Hart. DeTrinity Lutheran Church, 3536 spite their having worked toYMCA Drive, with burial to follow gether, Hart never showed any in the Miles cemetery. favoritism toward Fohn and held His philosophy was to do jushim to the same standards as tice, said his friend Gerald Fohn, others, Fohn said. who will give the eulogy at the Hart believed in both firmness service. He really believed that. and fairness, Fohn said. He had also been a defense atHe was firm, he said. He really torney, and he could put himself did believe in the public safety in the place of one, so he knew and protection of the public, but both sides. he was also fair. He would conFohn was fresh out of law school sider the background and the in 1973 when Hart hired him as circumstances of the case. He his assistant in the DAs office. turned a lot of lives around and

Hart a mentor is retired Chief Justice Marilyn Aboussie, who served on the bench with him as 340th District Court judge. Judge Royal Hart was among the legal legends in West Texas, she said. As district attorney, he helped train many successful young lawyers. As district judge, he treated everyone equally and with respect. He was among my mentors, and I was privileged to serve with him and to consider him a friend. Hart graduated as valedictorian of Miles High School. A classmate remembered him as a good student. Ira Royal Hart served as district attorney for the 119th Royals mother (Myrtle) was a District from 1965-82 and as district judge for the 51st schoolteacher, so he was under pretty strict supervision, said Judicial District from 1982-92. gave a break to some people who to have in a judge, said attorney Glenn Cunningham who started Tip Hargrove, who appeared be- first grade with Hart and is an would go on to become producfore Hart hundreds of times. He honorary pallbearer. Most of us tive citizens. Giving a person a second chance was fair to both sides, completely ran wild, and he didnt. He was an A student. He never did give anyhonest, and he applied the law is what attorney Guy Choate rebody any trouble. He was just a fairly. members about Hart as well. Because Hart was continually re- real nice boy. He had a real innate sense of Cunningham, who has written elected as judge, Hargrove said who deserved a second chance and who didnt, he said. He un- he remembers someone asking if books on World War II, said Hart suffered terrible frostbite on his anyone could ever run against derstood that people needed a feet and legs during the Battle of break, and those that didnt, they Royal and beat him. The reply the Bulge in December 1944. He was, maybe if you dug up Davy were toast in his court. spent three months in a hospital Crockett and ran him, he said. Choate said Hart was a student in England, then returned to duty. Hargrove said Harts legacy will of the law, interested in the jusHe was in the walking army, be one of ethical behavior and tice of a case. Cunningham said. I bet he If you couldnt convey the justice honesty. of the issue, you were in trouble, He showed us how to behave as walked halfway across Europe. he said. He understood equity a lawyer and how a judge was to Hart is survived by his wife, Virginia; three daughters, Sheryl conduct his work, he said. and justice. Hart Garza and husband ArThere are so many people that Hart devoted his life to public he influenced, so many protgs. mando, Linda Hart Garrahan and service and will be missed, husband Rick, and Kristi Hart; He set the standard. Choate said. numerous grandchildren; and one He was exactly what youd hope Among those who considered sister.