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Remembering
the
Legacy
of the
Honorable
Judge
Harold
Hood
DETROIT
–
Michiganians
will
memorialize
the
stellar
career
and life
of
retired
Michigan
Court of
Appeals
Judge
Harold
Hood on
Saturday,
May 30,
2015, 10
a.m., at
Hartford
Memorial
Baptist
Church
located
at 18700
James
Couzens
Hwy. in
Detroit.
Judge
Hood, a
lifetime
public
servant
who
served
the
Detroit
metropolitan
community
as a
soldier,
an
educator
and
Chief
Judge
Pro Tem
of the
Michigan
Court of
Appeals,
died on
May 5,
2015, he
was 84.
A
Hamtramck
native
born on
Jan. 14,
1931,
Judge
Hood
earned
his
undergraduate
degree
at the
University
of
Michigan
before
joining
the Army
and
serving
in
Korea.
Upon his
discharge
from the
Army, he
attended
law
school
at Wayne
State
University
and
graduated
at the
top 6
percent
of his
class.
Judge
Hood’s
professional
career
flourished
as
indicated
by his
early
academic
success.
After
establishing
his own
firm, in
1961 he
began
his
first
role in
public
service
as
assistant
corporation
counsel
for the
city of
Detroit.
Eight
years
after
obtaining
that
position,
he was
appointed
the
first
African
American
to serve
as Chief
Assistant
United
States
Attorney
for the
Eastern
District
of
Michigan.
His
judicial
career
began
with an
appointment
to the
Common
Pleas
Court
for the
city of
Detroit
in 1973.
His
years of
service
on the
bench
included
tenures
with
Detroit
Recorder’s
Court,
the 3rd
Judicial
Circuit
Court of
Wayne
County,
and
ultimately
the
Michigan
Court of
Appeals,
to which
his was
appointed
in 1982.
He
retired
in 2003
as Chief
Judge
Pro Tem
of the
Court.
On the
vanguard
of his
lifelong
commitment
to
issues
of
fairness
and
equality
within
the
profession,
Judge
Hood’s
career
as a
defender
of
eradicating
bias and
discrimination
spans to
1987
when he
was
appointed
to Chair
of the
Supreme
Court
Task
Force on
Racial
and
Ethnic
Issues
in the
Courts.
The Task
Force
issued a
report
with 122
recommendations
to
improve
the
state’s
legal
system
by
eliminating
bias and
discrimination.
From
1997 to
2002, he
partnered
with the
Supreme
Court
Justice
Marilyn
Kelly,
as
co-chair
of the
State
Bar,
Michigan’s
Open
Justice
Commission,
charged
with
implementing
the
Force’s
recommendations.
Additionally,
Judge
Hood has
served
as a
community
volunteer
as a
board
member
and
chair of
the
Ecumenical
Theological
Seminary,
he was a
member
and past
president
of the
Old
Newsboys
Goodfellows
Fund of
Detroit,
and he
served
on the
Advisory
Commission
of the
Nationals
Institute
on
Alcoholism
and
Addictions.
He was
bestowed
the 2013
Dennis
W.
Archer
Award
for
Public
Service;
he was
the
recipient
of the
Founders
Award
from the
National
Consortium
on
Racial
and
Ethnic
Fairness
in 2011;
in 1990
he was
honored
with the
prestigious
State
Bar of
Michigan
Champion
of
Justice
Award
and the
Michigan
Women’s
Hall of
Fame
Phillip
A. Hart
Award in
1991.
Judge
Hood
leaves
to
cherish
his
memory
his
loving
wife,
Rev. Dr.
Lottie
Jones
Hood;
four
children
Harold
K. Hood,
Kenneth
L. Hood,
Kevin J.
Hood and
Karen T.
Hood;
one
sister,
Gloria
Lewis
and one
brother,
James
Buford;
and a
host of
nieces,
nephews,
and
other
relatives,
friends
and
colleagues.
The
memorial
service
is at
Hartford
Memorial
Baptist
Church
located
18700
James
Couzens
Hwy in
Detroit
on
Saturday,
May 30,
2015 at
10 a.m.
The
family
hour
will
begin at
9 a.m.
Contact
Swanson
Funeral
Home for
more
information
at (313)
923-1122,
or (313)
272-9000.
Memorial
Contributions
can be
made to
Kappa
Alpha
Psi
Fraternity
Scholarship
Fund in
c/o
Kevin
Hood,
300
River
Front
Drive,
Ste.
23K,
Detroit,
MI
48226.
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