Friday, March 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Former District Court Judge Addeliar Dell Guy, Nevada's first black judge, died Thursday afternoon following a lengthy illness. He was 73.
Many of the jurist's peers and friends were shocked and saddened by his death. Guy, retired from the Eighth Judicial District Court bench on Jan. 12, 1996, after serving 20 years.
"I started crying," District Judge Lee Gates said after being handed a note of Guy's death while presiding over a trial. "He truly cared for people, and that is the difference between a person being a good judge and a great judge."
"Judge Guy was a trailblazer for his race," District Judge Stephen Huffaker said. "He was the Jackie Robinson of the judiciary."
The judge died at Sunrise Hospital, where he had been on a respirator for two weeks. He suffered from emphysema and other ailments since retiring. Prior to leaving the bench, he frequently relied on an oxygen tank and breathing mask.
Guy, who was born and raised in Chicago, received his law degree from Loyola University School of Law there in 1957. He practiced civil and criminal law in Chicago.
At the urging of a friend -- Harold Washington, who later became the first black mayor of Chicago -- Guy attended a national convention of the Young Democrats in Las Vegas in 1964. While here, he met then District Attorney Ted Marshall, who encouraged him to join the Clark County district attorney's office.
Upon accepting, Guy became the first black to practice law in the state. He later became the first black deputy district attorney in Clark County and the first chief deputy district attorney. When Department 11 of the Eighth Judicial District Court was created, then-Gov. Mike O'Callaghan appointed him to the post on June 27, 1975.
"Dell Guy was a gentleman who loved the law and his country," O'Callaghan, executive editor and chairman of the board of the Las Vegas SUN, said upon learning of his death Thursday. "I was fortunate having the opportunity to appoint him to the bench.
"He first came to my attention as an outstanding military officer and paratrooper. Everything he did in life was accomplished with honor and dignity. Not too many people with the quality of Dell Guy come down the road of life."
District Court Administrator Chuck Short said Guy always kept the interests of the disadvantaged close to his heart. He had a sense of fair play and integrity, and he was concerned about today's youth.
Once after a defendant was convicted of first-degree murder in his courtroom, Guy delivered a 10-minute lecture on the problems youngsters face in today's society.
"At my age, I'm not interested in just talking to a prisoner," Guy said. "I'm talking to everybody in the courtroom. I'm planting seeds because you never know how somebody might use it five, 10, 30, 40 years from now."
As the guest speaker for a Department of Energy's Black History Week, Guy spoke from the heart to his race's youth and their parents.
"No black man today has it made at anything," he said. "Blacks still have the highest unemployment rates. And too many black children graduate from high school unable to read or write.
"The schools pass them, and then I get them. What blacks need today is better role models for their young. It's something we must do for ourselves.
"We wonder why our children follow the man who drives a big Cadillac, wears a big hat and has money in his pocket."
Guy also had a distinguished military career, having served in the Coast Guard during World War II and later in active duty in the Army during the Korean War.
He received the Purple Heart, Meritorious Award Medal, Korean Service Medal with two Battle Stars and a Combat Infantryman's Badge.
While in the Army, Guy had the occasion to act as counsel for a sergeant, which inspired his interest in law.
District Judge Michael Douglas, who took Guy's judicial position, said he wouldn't be there if it weren't for Guy's influence, inspiration and mentoring.
Douglas became the state's fourth black district judge a year ago.
"He knew he had to be beyond reproach because he knew that as he would be judged, the (black) community would be judged," Douglas said. "He was keenly aware of the burden that came with being the first black district judge."
Chief Justice Miriam Shearing, who served in District Court with Guy for 10 years, said she frequently relied on his advice.
"He was the one I would go to for advice on ethical issues," Shearing said. "I respected his judgment. He had a high sense of integrity. I wasn't close socially, but I felt I could talk to him. I felt close to him professionally."
Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-North Las Vegas, said Guy was a political mentor who also taught him a few fundamental lessons about life.
"He was always upstanding," Arberry said. "You never saw him belittling somebody because he was Judge Guy and was above the law. I try to hold to that in that I don't think I'm better than anybody."
"I'm truly shattered," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, a former district attorney in Washoe County. "He left a great record of public service. He set high standards."
Guy is survived by his wife, Rosalyn; two sons, Addeliar D. Guy IV, a major in the U.S. Army, and Michael, a firefighter; a daughter, Pamela Anderson, a veterinarian; and six grandchildren.
Services are pending at Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St.
SUN REPORTERS Bill Gang and Larry Henry contributed to this story.
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