MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Friends and colleagues remembered Circuit Judge John Yoder on Panhandle Live Monday.
Yoder, who died Friday at 66, was at the beginning of his second term as judge in the 23rd Judicial Circuit.
He spent two terms as a republican State Senator in the 16th District as one of only two republicans where he developed a reputation as someone who could work across the aisle and get legislation passed.
Yoder said in a 2008 interview it came down to collaboration.
“A lot of people, if they’re a House of Delegates member, they know how to get legislation through the House. If they’re Senator they know how to legislation through the Senate,” Yoder said. “That’s the easy part, is to get it through your own body.”
Yoder developed a reputation for getting things pushed through, and was even named as having the best “batting average” by the Charleston Gazette for two years straight.
Yoder said he spent a lot of time in the House while serving as a State Senator, an act that had an impact on then Del. Craig Blair, who now serves on the State Senate in the 15th District.
“When I was a delegate, I would come over and sit next to John on the floor in the Senate,” Blair said Monday. “[I’d] be able to talk to him and ask him questions and work together.”
Blair said Yoder was a personal friend as well.
Blair’s daughter, Del. Saira Blair (R-Berkeley County) remembered Yoder being at family gatherings throughout her childhood.
“I’ve always looked up to him as another father,” She said during Panhandle Live. “He’s just always had so much influence on me.”
She said he was tremendously helpful when she decided to run for House of Delegates herself in 2014.
Yoder got an early start in politics as well, being elected as Kansas’ Ninth Judicial District Judge at just 25.
Yoder was one of only two Republicans in the W.Va. Senate when he came into office in 1992.
State Sen. Donna Boley (R – Pleasants) recalls that she and Yoder did not always vote together on many issues.
“John and I, the first couple years there, we really didn’t vote together that much,” Boley said. “John was more liberal and went with the Democrat liberal group and I went with the conservative group Democrats.”
Still, Boley said she and Yoder and fun, often dealing with the mutual frustration of being in the extreme minority.
Former Del. Walter Duke also spoke about Yoder during Monday’s program.
He said Yoder’s enthusiasm, especially when out among people on the campaign trail, was infectious.
“On the campaign trail, crisscrossing the state when he was running for the W.Va. Supreme Court, he was just and Energizer Bunny,” he said.
W.Va. Republican Party Chairman Conrad Lucas agreed.
He recalled riding the “Yoder Voter Train Tour” during his 2012 W.Va. Supreme Court Race.
Lucas said Yoder garnered friends and supporters from across the state thanks to his intelligent and thoughtful approach to politics and life.
“Despite how conservative or how liberal someone might be in their political philosophies, if you’re a good reasonable person who people enjoy having conversations with it helps advocate your position,” Lucas said. “John Yoder embodied that.”
Yoder ran unsuccessfully three times for State Supreme Court and once for U.S. Senate in 1990.
He left the Senate to run for the circuit judge position in 2008 and was reelected just last year.
His death Friday stemmed from complications due to heart surgery.
Yoder was very close to his faithful dog, Roxy.
The rescue dog was actually an integral part of Yoder’s role as a judge.
“What I found out is that people, they would open up and talk to me, or instead of talking to me they would look at Roxy and talk to Roxy about their experience.”
He said it was very important when he dealt with cases of sexual abuse.
Sen. Blair said he and John spoke about life ahead of his heart surgery.
Both had agreed their lives were blessed.
Blair said he looked forward to seeing his friend again down the road.