JAMES LINEBERGER

HONORABLE JAMES LINEBERGER The Honorable James Albert Lineberger died at the age of 84 on Wednesday, October 29, 2014, at Kindred Hospital of the Palm
Beaches, in Riviera Beach after a short illness. In 2010, he relocated to Port St. Lucie, Florida, from his beloved Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pemberton, New Jersey, in order to live the life of a snow bird, and be closer to his family. Judge Lineberger was born in Stanley, North Carolina to Jonas Archie and Viola Durham Lineberger. He grew up in the segregated South. The Honorable James Albert Lineberger had a distinguished military career in the United States Army, which he joined at the age of 18. At the age of 22, he was one of the youngest ever promoted to the rank of 1st Sergeant. In 1954, while stationed abroad, in Stuttgart, Germany, Judge Lineberger married the love of his life, Ursula Elizabeth Schoenfeld. A few years after they returned to the United States, while stationed at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, his daughter, Carmen Mercedes Lineberger was born. While in the military, in 1964, Judge Lineberger completed a BA degree in Secondary Education and German from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Judge Lineberger retired from the military, in 1968, and settled his family in the Township of Pemberton, in Burlington County. His son Jesse, was later born in 1971. In 1968, Judge Lineberger was recruited away from the military, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by William "Bill" H. Wilcox, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Movement (GPM). GPM was a civic-action group of Philadelphia company executives, formed in the late 1940s in response to corruption in city government. Judge Lineberger, was recruited to act as liaison in fostering relations between the races, and to assist administering a $1,000,000 endowment to the Black Coalition, for community projects to redevelop and revitalize the city. In 1971, Judge Lineberger, became the Executive Director of GPM, which later became the Greater Philadelphia Partnership. In 1974, Judge Lineberger enrolled in Temple School of Law night program, and in 1978 earned his Juris Doctor. After assisting a young relatively unknown former prosecutor in his campaign run for District Attorney against the incumbent F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, Judge Lineberger was hired as Edward G. Rendell's Deputy for Community Relations. Between 1978 to 1986, while acting as a community liaison, EEO officer and Senior Trial Assistant, Judge Lineberger also distinguished himself in the Rape and Career Criminal Units, where he tried hundreds of major felony cases. In 1986, Judge Lineberger left the DA's office and began a thriving private criminal defense and civil litigation practice before ascending to the bench. Judge Lineberger was first elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 1991 after spending 13 years practicing law. While in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Criminal Trial Division, Judge Lineberger distinguished himself in the Homicide Division where he presided over hundreds of capital and non-capital cases. Judge Lineberger was known as a tough, no-nonsense but extremely fair jurist, whose intellect and wit were second to none. At the age of 70, Judge Lineberger took senior judge status, and continued to work tirelessly in the courtroom, with a full caseload, until his retirement at the age of 75, in 2005. Judge Lineberger had received many awards over the years, in fact, too numerous to mention herein. Judge Lineberger loved to spend his free time fishing in fresh and salt water, from the shore or on one of his or his friends boats. He loved to hunt game birds and rabbits with his hunting dogs. He was a Prince Hall Mason, member of Foster Military lodge, Willingboro, NJ. He is survived by his daughter Carmen Mercedes Lineberger (Steven R. Powell, Sr.) of Port St. Lucie, Florida, son Jesse A. Lineberger (Sandra Lineberger) of Roundrock, Texas, and his play son Darren Bolden of Trenton, New Jersey; his daughter-in-law Jennifer Blockmon Lineberger and grandchildren Chantel and Chyenne Garnett, and Dylan, Devon and Natalia Lineberger, and cousins and friends in North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and nationwide. Service: Saturday, November 8, 2014 The Sharon Baptist Church, 3955 Conshohocken Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19131. Visitation: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Service 11:00 a.m. Interment with Military Honors will occur at Beverly National Cemetery at a later date. For more information contact Cynthia Wood, Wood Funeral Home 5537 Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131; 215-878-5416. Memorial donations may be made in the name of Judge James A. Lineberger to the National Kidney Foundation, Inc., 30 East 33rd Street, New York, NY 10016 or www.kidney.org/donate