Houlton bids adieu to longtime justice Archibald was mentor, friend

HOULTON – To some, he was a mentor, a “father and grandfather figure,” and “the most respected citizen” in Houlton.

To others who knew or worked with the Honorable Justice James P. Archibald, he was more commonly referred to as “the Judge.”

Those were some of the many recollections shared by lawyers, judges and other legal dignitaries from across the state Friday, as they gathered at the Aroostook County Superior Court in Houlton to say an “official goodbye” to the longtime lawyer, judge and Maine Supreme Judicial Court justice.

Archibald, a Houlton native whose career spanned nearly 50 years, died on May 28 at his winter residence in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. He was 94.

More than 50 legal representatives attended Friday’s ceremony, including state supreme court Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley and Justices Robert W. Clifford, Donald G. Alexander and Warren M. Silver.

Archibald attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick and Boston University School of Law, returning to Houlton in 1937 to practice law with his father.

He later served as Aroostook County attorney, and then-Gov. Edmund Muskie appointed him as Superior Court justice in 1956.

For the next 15 years, Archibald was one of only eight Superior Court justices in Maine.

In 1971, Archibald was appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court by then-Gov. Kenneth Curtis. He spent the next 10 years on the Law Court before becoming active-retired in 1981.

Friends and colleagues Friday remembered Archibald as a fair, compassionate and sometimes mischievous soul who treated everyone who came before him with respect.

“He was the most respected citizen in this community,” said Thomas Brown, a lawyer with the Bangor law firm Eaton Peabody and former colleague of the judge’s.

Robert Rush, another colleague and a retired Aroostook County law clerk, said that he was an inexperienced youngster who had spent years on a farm before he encountered Archibald in the legal profession.

“He [Archibald] welcomed me, he guided me, and he was very kind to me,” he said during the ceremony. “He was a wonderful person.”

Many speakers also mentioned Archibald’s dedication to his wife, Leta, and their two children. They also touched on his sense of humor, including his tendency to try to convince non-Aroostook County natives that potatoes did not grow underground, but instead sprouted above the soil on vines until harvest time.

Vincent L. McKusick, the former chief justice of the Law Court, could not attend Friday’s ceremony. He submitted a written statement, which Saufley read to the court.

“He was one of the greatest figures in Maine law,” McKusick wrote of his longtime friend and associate, whom he once referred to as the “grand old man of the supreme judiciary.”

“Many times, the Archibald living room was used as an emergency hearing room in child welfare cases.”

He recalled that Archibald had many titles, but added that he most often was referred to with one dignified designation.

“To us, he was ‘the Judge,'” McKusick noted.