Jesse E. Eschbach, a Warsaw native who was appointed to a federal judgeship in Fort Wayne by President Kennedy and to the U.S. Court of Appeals by President Reagan, died Tuesday.

When Eschbach retired in 2000, he had served 38 years on the federal bench. He was widely praised as a scrupulously fair and impartial judge who had a vast knowledge of the law and was always thorough and well-prepared.

Eschbach was extremely bright, conscientious and maintained great control over his courtroom, said Lee, who tried 15 to 20 cases before Eschbach when Lee was a U.S. attorney in the early 1970s. Lawyers had to come prepared and some found him intimidating, Lee said.

But outside the courtroom, Eschbach was completely different. He was witty and "a lot of fun." And it was Eschbach who suggested that Lee become a judge. Without a doubt, Eschbach had the most influence on Lee's career, Lee said. Lee was appointed federal judge in Fort Wayne in 1981 by Reagan.

Born in Warsaw on Oct. 26, 1920, Eschbach was a Navy veteran, serving aboard a mine sweeper in the South Pacific during World War II. He would have turned 85 Wednesday.

He graduated from the Indiana University School of Law in 1949, and joined the Warsaw law firm that would become Graham Rasor Eschbach and Harris. He served for a time as the Warsaw city attorney and as a deputy prosecutor for Kosciusko County.

Kennedy appointed Eschbach to the federal district judgeship in Fort Wayne in 1962. In 1981, with recommendations from Sen. Richard Lugar and then-Sen. Dan Quayle, Reagan appointed him to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Eschbach told the Standard that he later wrote to Reagan to express "my deep appreciation for your kindness and consideration in calling me. It was an experience our family will never forget."

Eschbach was a low-key judge who would not serve on boards of religious and charitable organizations, arguing that using a judge's name to solicit donations could be misunderstood.

During his years on the federal bench, Eschbach gained a reputation as "a judge's judge, someone with a passion for the law tempered by an appreciation for the realities of everyday life," according to a December 2000 Journal Gazette editorial that marked his retirement.

In a 1977 Journal Gazette series on the most powerful people in the city, Eschbach was the undisputed choice of community leaders as the city's most trusted leader.

"As a reflection of Eschbach's incisive legal mind, meticulous attention to detail and in-depth knowledge of the law," the story noted, "his decisions are very rarely overturned by higher courts."

One of Eschbach's most high-profile cases involved Earl L. Butz, former secretary of agriculture under Presidents Nixon and Ford and a dean emeritus at Purdue University. In June 1981, Eschbach sentenced Butz to 30 days in federal prison and nearly five years'probation for tax fraud. Butz admitted that in 1978, he reported income of $97,814 when in fact his taxable income was $254,928.

In 1987, Eschbach assumed senior status on the court, which allowed him to handle fewer cases if he wished, but he continued to hear many cases until about a year before retiring.

"He benefited greatly from his many years as a district court judge, which gave him insights that those of us appointed directly to the appellate bench are denied; wrote Judge Richard Posner, Eschbach's longtime colleague on the court of appeals. "And ego, politics, and personal rivalry never marred his performance of the judicial function. Truly one of the outstanding federal judges of his time."

In December 2000, Eschbach was honored at a retirement ceremony at the E. Ross Adair Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, where his judgeship began 38 years earlier.

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