Longtime circuit judge Steve Sharp dies

KENNETT — Those who knew Steve Sharp describe him as a mentor and a decisive judge, who always listened to all parties before quietly making his decisions.

The longest serving presiding circuit judge for the 35th Judicial Circuit prior to his 2012 retirement, Sharp died Saturday at a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital. He was 75.

“Judge Sharp was a great mentor to me from when I was a practicing attorney and as a judge, which continued even after he retired,” said Stoddard County Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield.

Sharp, Satterfield said, always was willing to answer questions and “give advice if you asked him.”

Satterfield further described Sharp as a “very thoughtful man and a great listener. Regardless of how many people were in the room, when you were talking to him, it was like you were the only one there.

“He looked directly at you and nodded his head approvingly as he was reassuring you that he was taking in and considering everything you said.”

Senior Judge Stephen Mitchell agreed.

“The most important thing to me was that he was always willing to provide advice to other judges whenever he was asked, but he would never think about trying to tell someone how to run their business nor would he do that to people who appeared before him,” said the retired Stoddard County associate circuit judge.

Sharp’s manner of holding court, Mitchell said, always was “to allow the lawyers and the parties themselves to have their day in court.

“He was always willing to listen to what the parties had to say, and he did not try to dictate to the parties or the other judges in the courtroom.”

Sharp, Mitchell said, didn’t dictate to anyone how they should perform their duties.

“He was a quiet man, but nonetheless decisive,” Mitchell said. “He let people, who had a story to tell, … tell it, then he would quietly go about making a decision.”

Sharp, Mitchell said, went out of his way to be kind to people, who were respectful of the legal system.

Sharp, said former Dunklin County associate circuit judge John Beaton, was “very considerate” and respectful of the lawyers who appeared before him.

“I always noticed he never introduced himself as a judge, it was, ‘I’m Steve Sharp,’” said Dunklin County Associate Circuit Judge John Spielman, who indicated he had a “unique perspective” on Sharp.

When Spielman joined the Public Defender’s Office in Kennett after graduating law school in 1997, he said, it was Sharp who swore him into the bar.

“Then, in ‘99, that’s when I began as an assistant prosecutor, so he gave me my oath of office to be in the prosecutor’s office,” Spielman said. “Then, when I was elected judge in 2006, he gave me my oath of office to be a judge. A lot of my legal career was influenced by him.”

Spielman indicated Sharp chose his words “very carefully, which is very important. He gave me one line that I’ve always remembered.

“It was during a time he ruled for the other side. He said the law has to treat everybody the same, but also has to treat everybody as an individual.”

Those two concepts, Spielman said, have to conflict at some point, but, at the same time, “that sums up the whole concept of being a judge – treat everyone the same, but also treat everyone as individuals and use the law and common sense to make those two concepts work.”

Sharp had so much “life experience and intelligence that he made the job of being a judge look easy, when most days it’s not,” Satterfield said.

Sharp was well respected throughout the state and was appointed to a number of commissions, including a blue ribbon commission of select judges, who studied the reorganization of the courts, Mitchell said.

Sharp, he said, also was “quite active” in the review of statewide circuit boundaries.

Mitchell said he and Sharp began their law practices at about the same time in the early 1970s after serving in the U.S. Army.

“He got out of the active-duty Army with a Bronze Star, and he opened up a law practice,” Mitchell said.

Sharp practiced at the McHaney-Welman Law Firm in Kennett with Beaton, who indicated he and Sharp took their bar exams on the same day in 1972.

“We practiced together until Steve became prosecutor,” said Beaton.

After six years of private practice, Mitchell said, Sharp was elected and served five years as Dunklin County’s prosecutor.

“Then, he served in the Missouri Senate from 1984 until he was appointed to the bench in 1988,” Mitchell said.

After his retirement, Sharp subsequently became a senior judge and heard cases assigned to him by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Outside of the courtroom, Mitchell said, Sharp was a musician, a drummer.

“Heck, he knew every group in Southeast Missouri, some of whom had gone on to the Grand Ole Opry,” Mitchell said. “Fiddler players, you name it, he knew all about them, and loved to talk about it at length.”

Spielman also spoke of Sharp’s music background.

“When I was assistant prosecutor and I would go to his house to get a warrant signed, he would invite me in and play some rockabilly on the jukebox he had inside his house and then would tell me about the songs while he was signing the warrant, which was just cool,” Spielman said.

Another thing some may not know about Sharp was his love of “good food,” Mitchell said. “… The big cities, he could find the finest steaks.

“In Bunker, Missouri, he could find the best bowl of white beans. It didn’t make a difference where you went, he always had a recommendation.”

Sharp, Beaton said, was very proud of his family, including his parents and especially his grandfather, who was “very involved in politics and was a county court judge” in New Madrid.

Beaton said Sharp enjoyed Democrat politics and supported his wife, Patt, who also was interested and involved in politics.