Former state senator and Porter Superior Court 2 Judge Bill Alexa died Sunday.
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Alexa, 85, was Porter Superior Court 2 judge from 2002 to 2017. Before that, he represented District 5 in the Indiana Senate from 1988 to 2002.
Judge Jeffrey Clymer, who now presides over Alexa’s court, spoke about Alexa while he and his staff were taking shelter because of Tuesday’s storm.
“What a great guy,” Clymer said. “He was funny, he was smart, he was no-nonsense, and he had such a sense of humor.”
“He loved sitting around in the office talking with lawyers, talking about life, talking about friends, not talking about law,” Clymer said.
That’s one of the things Clymer regrets about so many things happening online since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Lawyers don’t get together like they used to, but Bill made it fun to come here,” Clymer said.
There was a group of lawyers that was called the Inn of Court, modeled after a British institution of that name, Clymer said. “When you finally made it to the Masters Table, you had been there a while.” That’s where Alexa and the late Roger Bradford, a fellow former judge, sat.
Alexa visited the courthouse a few times post-retirement. His health wasn’t good, so he and his wife moved to Florida, where he died Sunday, Clymer said.
Clymer’s staff is identical to Alexa’s time, he said. “They were kind of like family then, and they’re kind of like family now.”
Carol Meyer remembers Alexa well. “I started working in this particular court, Superior Court 2, in 1978 with Bruce Douglas,” she said. Meyer took 20 years off to raise her children, then Alexa’s office was one of the ones that helped out when she returned to work part-time. Alexa asked her to be his full-time secretary. “That was 16 years ago.”
Bailiff Tracy Goodpaster said Alexa was well-respected. “I think he was a very fair judge.’
“He was definitely no-nonsense in the courtroom, but outside of the courtroom he was just a people person,” she said.
Porter Superior Court 3 Judge Michael Drenth began as a law clerk at Alexa’s law firm. “I’ve known Bill since 1990 or so. He was kind of a mentor for me through most of my legal career, and even after I got on the bench, he was very helpful,” Drenth said.
“He was a very knowledgeable attorney and judge, and obviously he’ll be missed.”
“He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. He was always very helpful and always had a good sense of humor,” Drenth said.
“I worked with him a lot in the prosecutor’s office,” Drenth said.
“He was a good mentor,” he said, offering a lot of advice on a lot of things over the years.
When Drenth applied for his current judgeship. Alexa warned him of the isolation of the bench. He also said it’s a great job. “I’ve enjoyed it. He was right.”
State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, served with Alexa in the Indiana Senate. “We had a good, solid relationship,” Randolph said. “We had so many bills that we collaborated on.”
Randolph appreciated Alexa’s support on the legislation that brought riverboat casinos to Indiana. “Anything that benefitted Northwest Indiana, he was there,” Randolph said.
“He got along very well with the other side,” drawing Republican support for various bills. “He was very well liked by a lot of people.”
“We hated to see him go when he got his appointment to the judgeship,” Randolph said.
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“Bill was my buddy. Bill was all right.”
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.