SPRINGFIELD – Retired District Court Judge George Sheehy admitted when he was approached at first about participating in the first observation of Black History Month staged by the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, he was unaware the point of the program was to honor him.

Sheehy took much of his time when speaking thanking people who helped him during his long legal career

Sheehy, the first African-American judge in Western Massachusetts served in District Court from 1978 to 1998 and has since retired, but it was clear by the standing room only audience in Courtroom 2 at the Hampden County Hall of Justice he is well remembered.

Associate District Court Justice Charles Groce III organized the event and said it would be first in what will be an annual event.

Groce said, “To me black history is a day to day celebration.”

Former state Rep. Raymond Jordan called Sheehy “a living legend” and recounted how he built up a thriving and profitable law practice in the city. Jordan said he took a pay cut accepting the position as a judge.

Mayor Domenic Sarno recounted much of Sheehy’s career. An Air Force veteran, Sheehy studied law at night and graduated from Suffolk School of Law in 1965. He served as an assistant U.S. Attorney from 1966 through 1969 and came to Springfield to manage a furniture factory.

He started his law practice in 1972 and was named to the bench by Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1978.

City Councilor Bud Williams worked with Sheehy as a probation officer and called him a “phenomenal man.”

Brooks Fitch, fellow member of the fraternity Sigma Pi Phi along with Sheehy, spoke of the retired judge’s “sustained commitment” to the Springfield community. He said Sheehy is the epitome of civil rights activist and writer W.E.B. Dubois’ quote that “it’s not enough to know, one has to act.”

Sheehy received several proclamations and an award from his fraternity and recalled his philosophy as a judge: “Every case who came before me was a very important case for the defendant. You owe him or her your very best effort.”