When Rose D’Amour realized why she was in a room filled with lawyers from a generation younger than her, she was overwhelmed.
Pat Kilbane, president of the Young Lawyers Section, said when the group needs to get something accomplished at the courthouse, there is only one place to go.
“And that’s to Rose,” he said of the revered chief judge’s judicial assistant.
The only appropriate way to honor D’Amour, he said, wasn’t to give her the top volunteer award. It was to name the annual honor the Rose D’Amour Volunteer of the Year Award.
Tears filled D’Amour’s eyes. Her words were halted at times as she collected her emotions.
She loves every minute of what she does, D’Amour told the audience. Loves working with Chief Judge Mark Mahon, who drove back from Tallahassee to be at the Thursday event, and Donald Moran before him.
“Hopefully,” she said, “I’ll be here for years and years to come.”
Those words resonated throughout the third floor of The Candy Apple Cafe on North Hogan Street. The room was packed with dozens of young lawyers, several judges and members of D’Amour’s family.
They all knew about the health issue D’Amour is fighting with her typical grace and the treatment she is undergoing.
They wanted her to know she isn’t alone. They applauded, smiled and wiped away their own tears.
And there was D’Amour, seated in a white high-back chair. A perfect place to relax as she was congratulated by a stream of well-wishers.
In her more than five years at the courthouse, D’Amour has earned a legion of fans.
Before the event, Kilbane said D’Amour has helped YLS set up its judicial breakfasts in the courthouse for years. From reserving the room to securing the industrial-size coffee pot, D’Amour handles every detail, he said.
“She’s been great for us,” Kilbane said.
Circuit Judge Russell Healey called her the “kindest, sweetest, most caring person.” He praised her ability to handle the complexities that come with being the chief judge’s judicial assistant.
Healey admires how positive D’Amour has been during her health challenge. “It’s always about how you’re doing,” he said. “It’s really very inspirational.”
Moran said D’Amour mastered the range of duties that come with being the chief judge’s judicial assistant.
He recalled how she took notes early on because she didn’t want to ask about something a second time.
“The chief judge gets an awful lot of complaints,” Moran said. “There aren’t a whole lot of people who call to say, ‘I want to tell you the judge did a wonderful job.’”
There are emotional callers, often upset over custody or visitation issues. “She handles those things extraordinarily well,” said Moran, who retired in January.
Sometimes judges are upset with their assignments, he said, and they’d call D’Amour.
Plus, there’s the scheduling of courtrooms and the managing of the juror assembly room.
And then there’s how she dealt with him, Moran said.
“People fuss at me because I’m too loud and too noisy,” he said, with a laugh. “Rose was always patient with me.”
Moran said D’Amour’s fans extend throughout the 4th Judicial Circuit and to Tallahassee.
Her work is so respected, Moran said, the judges who ran to replace him as chief judge told D’Amour they wanted her to be their judicial assistant if they won.
D’Amour came to the courthouse when she was looking for something new after 38 years in the family business, the Mussallem Galleries.
It was a perfect fit for her.
She wants to continue in the job she loves.
She prays she will see her 10- and 12-year-old grandsons grow up.
She knows she has a legal community full of supporters who will be there with her on both ventures.
@editormarilyn
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