John Yoder
Obituary
John Christian Yoder, 66, of Harpers
Ferry, West Virginia, died June 9, 2017, following complications from
heart surgery. He was born Jan. 9, 1951, and grew up in Hesston, the
son of Gideon and Stella (Hostetler) Yoder.
John graduated from Hutchinson High
School in 1969 and attended one semester at Hesston College, where
his dad taught. By mutual agreement, it was decided that he should
leave home and learn to be independent. He ended up at Chapman
College, Orange, California, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in
1972 with a double major in Government and Economics. There, he
participated in World Campus Afloat, a study abroad program on a
traveling ship.
John earned a law degree from the
University of Kansas in 1975 and a graduate degree in Business
Administration from the University of Chicago in 1976, where he
studied under Nobel Prize winner, Milton Friedman. Helping to finance
his education, John was an assistant professor of business at Goshen
College, Goshen, Indiana, from 1975 to 1976, and also taught U.S.
Government at Bethel College from 1976 to 1978.
John successfully ousted the
70-year-old incumbent in the August 1976 primary in Harvey County,
and was unopposed in the general election, becoming the youngest
District Court Judge in the U.S. at the age of 25. Upon completion of
his term, he was selected in a national competition to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court from 1980 to 1983 as a Supreme Court Fellow and
special assistant to Chief Justice Warren Burger.
With the focus on the war on drugs by
the Reagan Administration, John was appointed from 1983 to 1985 to
become the first director of the Asset Forfeiture Office for the U.S.
Department of Justice. Following this, he practiced law in Washington
D.C. and Harpers Ferry for 23 years, concentrating on complex civil
litigation, constitutional law, civil RICO, appellate law, land use
and employment discrimination.
John was always interested in the
political arena and was elected to two terms in the West Virginia
Senate, in 1992 and 2004, where he served on a number of influential
committees.
John was elected to the bench as a
District Judge in 2008 in the 23rd Judicial Circuit of West Virginia,
serving Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties. Just last year he
was elected to a second eight-year term. He was a passionate advocate
for the Jefferson County Drug Court and believed he was making a
difference by giving participants the support and incentives they
needed to turn their lives around and become productive citizens.
West Virginia Senator Craig Blair gave
the following tribute: "West Virginia has lost one of its most
distinguished and dedicated public servants and I have lost a dear
friend. As a legislator, John relentlessly fought to give residents
of the eastern panhandle the voice they so desperately needed. As a
respected judge, John had a reputation of fairness, honesty and
integrity".
John is survived by four siblings:
Russel Yoder of Kansas City, Kansas, ImoJeanne Johnson of Michigan
City, Indiana, Galen Yoder of Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Bonita Yoder
of Lawrence; and former spouse and friend, Irene Sanders of Harpers
Ferry.
A Memorial Service celebrating John's
life was held at Asbury Methodist Church in Charles Town, West
Virginia, on July 7. A reception followed at the historic courthouse
where John presided and where John Brown was tried and convicted of
treason in 1859.
