Henry George “Bud” Broome, who served as a judge in Atlantic County starting in the late 1970s, died Wednesday, according to an obituary appearing in Sunday’s Press of Atlantic City.
Broome, who grew up in Margate and died in Linwood, was 80.
Broome attended Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he graduated high school in 1959. He graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1963, and earned his law degree from UNC Chapel Hill in 1966.
He served as first clerk to state Sen. Frank “Hap” Farley and then opened his own law firm while working for the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. He was offered a judgeship in Pleasantville in the late ‘70s.
At first, he declined the offer, but after a mentor convinced him to reconsider, he took the job. That eventually led to him being asked to fill in on other courts in the county and becoming a full-time judge for more than 10 municipalities throughout his career, the obituary reads.
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His obituary highlighted an unusual case that was “most representative of his character,” in which he served as one of the lawyers defending a Mainland Regional High School football player in December 1995 who was ejected during a state semifinal and not allowed to play in the final by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Since the NJSIAA didn’t have an appeal process, Broome represented the player pro bono in a lawsuit against the organization, and the trial was set the day before the state title game. Broome lost the trial and filed an appeal.
The appellate judge who would hear the case that night was officiating a wedding at Atlantic City Country Club, so the judge heard the case in the lobby, where “the bride, justifiably furious, (yelled) that a trial over football was ruining her wedding.” Broome won the appeal, and Mainland won the state title the next day.
Unfortunately for Mainland, it was stripped of the title the following March, and an appeal process that lasted nearly 17 months ended in May 1997 with Mainland still without a title.
Broome was an avid sports fan, holding season tickets for the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles and traveling to see college football games, Phillies spring training, MLB All-Star games and several Super Bowls. He also collected sports memorabilia, according to his obituary.
He also loved to travel, especially to Captiva Island or Walt Disney World in Florida. He was an avid runner and found time to volunteer in the community.
Broome is survived by his wife, Patricia, sons Henry III (wife Christina) and Christopher (wife Ioana), three grandchildren and sister Babbie.
A viewing and visitation are set for 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Margate Community Church, 8900 N. Ventnor Ave. Funeral services will begin at 11, and a burial will follow in Laurel Memorial Park Cemetery in Egg Harbor Township.
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