Judge Robert Bernard Watts, Sr.

Robert Bernard Watts, Sr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 4, 1922, to Lucille Brown and Heber Watts. He peacefully departed this life on Thursday, October 8, 1998.

Judge Watts was a devout Catholic and was a volunteer Judge of the Court of Equity for the Archdiocese of the City of Baltimore. Formerly a member of St. Peter Claver, Our Lady of Lourdes and All Saints parishes. He had recently become a member of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

He graduated with honors from Morgan State College in 1943, and served in the Army from which he was Honorably Discharged in 1945 as a Sergeant. He earned a law degree from the University of Maryland in 1949 where he was editor of the Maryland Law Review. That same year he, together with the late W. Emerson Brown, Jr. and Milton B. Allen, formed the first major Black law firm in Baltimore.

Judge Watts was at the center of the Civil Rights Movement in the State of Maryland. He began his civil rights work as chairman of the NAACP Youth Chapter at Morgan State College. His chapter, with 200 members, was the largest in the country at the time. Because of his outstanding work, the NAACP sent him to his first national convention in Atlanta, Georgia in 1942, where he met the late Justice Thurgood Marshall with whom he worked for fifteen years on various civil rights cases. With many other prominent civil rights leaders, he succeeded in desegregating numerous theaters, restaurants, department stores, hotels and the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park.

He was the first African-American appointed to the Municipal Court, was defeated in 1962, but reappointed by Governor J. Millard Tawes in 1963. He won a full ten year term in 1966. In 1968, he was appointed by Governor Spiro T. Agnew to the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City, the predecessor of the Circuit Court, where he served until he retired in 1985 at age sixty-eight.

He was the first judge in Maryland to open hundreds of adoption records, reuniting many grateful families. He also taught Family Law as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law where he often related court room stories and humor.

After his retirement from the Bench, Judge Watts joined the law firm of Russell and Thompson, P.A. On October 1, 1986, the firm merged with Piper and Marbury, where he was appointed Of Counsel, a respected position usually reserved for a firm's elder statesman. He also worked for the firm] as a mediator and arbitrator and was appointed a Master of Chancery to the Circuit Court of Baltimore. Judge Watts placed a strong emphasis on pro bono work and two to three times per month he faithfully heard Legal Aid divorces. He also found the time to handle numerous other cases pro bono. In 1997, he was presented the Benjamin L. Cardin Pro Bono Service Award by the University of Maryland School of Law Alumni Association for his continued service to indigent clients. For more than twenty years Judge Watts served on the Board of the Legal Aid Bureau which honored him by naming an award after him and making him the first recipient.

He was committed to co-chairing the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast with Sydney King from WBAL for fifteen years. He had received numerous awards including the NAACP Man of the Year Award; the 1986 Sydney Hollander Award of Distinction from the American Jewish Congress; the first African-American recipient of the Vernon Eney Award of 1989; the Annual Brotherhood Award given by the National Conference on Christians and Jews; and the ACLU of Maryland's Ninth Annual Gilman Award.

At one point in his career, he served on fourteen boards at the same time, among them being Bon Secours Hospital, Prisoners Aid Association of Maryland, North Charles General Hospital where he was President of the Board, Board of Trustees for State Colleges and the Family and Children's Society. More recently (before his passing) he had served on the Boards of the Harriet Lane-Johns Hopkins Hospital; the Dismas House; CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocacy) Program; st. Mary's College, Boys and Girls Clubs; Lilie Carroll Jackson Museum; the Food Bank and the War Memorial Commission. He chaired three gubernatorial task forces regarding family law, A

IDS and prison overcrowding.

He was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Towson State University and Morgan State University and the University of Maryland School of Law awarded him the Order of the Coif. He was a sought after Master of Ceremonies and noted storyteller.

Judge Watts was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity / Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity; Congress of Racial Equity (CORE), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Black-Jewish Forum (BLEWS). He ws a charter member of the Epicures, Templars, his favorite social organizations.

Judge Watts met Jacquelyn Johnson in heir typing class at the Cortez Peters Business School in the summer of 1941. They married on June 20, 1944, and enjoyed fifty-four years of love and companionship. Judge Watts cherished his family and loved the happy times they spent together.

He was preceded in death by his only sibling, Lucille Watts-Gibson.

In addition to his wife, he was survived by five children, F=Robert B. Jr., Rodney M., Jacqueline W. Broady, Genelle R. Watts-Jackson and Bobette T.; and two grandsons, Marc S. Broady and Austin H. Jones.

A Funeral Service was held on Monday, October 12, 1998 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen Roman Catholic Church, with Father Richard T. Lawrence officiating. Tributes were given by Governor Parris Glendening, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, Chief Judge Robert Bell, George L. Russell, Jr. Esq. (Peper and Marbury), Kweisi Mfume (President, NAACP), J. Margaret O'Brien (President, St. Mary's College), Judge David T. Mason, and Judge Robert I. H. Hammerman.