by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The portrait of U.S. District Judge Ralph Nimmons unveiled last week at Jacksonville’s Federal Courthouse was such a lifelike rendering that his wife, Penny, felt for a moment that the deceased judge could step through the frame and give her a hug.
“How I wish that you could,” she said.
The United States District Court Middle District of Florida used the occasion of the unveiling of Nimmons’ portrait Wednesday to pay tribute to his 26 years on the bench and a lifetime of warmth and wit provided to his friends and family.
The chance to honor Nimmons brought every judge in the Middle District and an overflow crowd to courtroom 13A in the Federal Courthouse. Every seat was filled, including dozens of folding chairs set up at the front of the courtroom. The crowd of well-wishers was so large that about 30 people had to watch the ceremony via video feed in a 12th-floor courtroom.
Penny remembered the man who had been her constant companion since they met in college. He died of liver cancer at age 65 on Nov. 24, 2003. She remembered her husband’s fondness for memorizing Bible verses.
“He didn’t use them to sermonize to people,” she said. “He used them to remind himself to walk closely with the Lord.”
It was an appropriate sentiment for a man who treated his place on the bench, “not just like he was doing a job. It was a true vocation and calling,” said Thomas Bishop of Holland & Knight and president of Jacksonville’s chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Nervous young lawyers asking about Judge Nimmons’ temperament always received the same encouraging words.
“Once we found out they had ‘Buddy’,” said Bishop, referring to Nimmons’ nickname. “We’d always say, ‘Oh you’ll be okay.’
“I didn’t always win.”
Nimmons was known for his fairness, his even temperament and his quick wit, both on and off the bench. United States District Judge Henry Lee Adams remembered one lunch outing when several federal judges packed into Nimmons’ van — Nimmons called it the “Buddy Bus.” Nimmons ran a red light, leading to a lecture from Adams.
“I told him he almost took out the entire Tampa division,” said Adams. “We’ve missed those times; we’ve missed him. This (painting) will keep him in our thoughts and actions.”
The painting will hang in the Federal Courthouse. Fitting, said Adams, because Nimmons and U.S. Circuit Judge Gerald Tjoflat were instrumental in getting the courthouse built.