Frederick Hill McDonald

1943 - 2020

Frederick Hill McDonald, a Lucas County Common Pleas judge for nearly 30 years who helped guide young lawyers through procedural matters, supported charities for legal services, and took time to show compassion for others, died Tuesday at his Sylvania Township home. He was 77.

His son Charles McDonald, a Lucas County assistant prosecutor, confirmed his father's death and provided a statement to The Blade on behalf of his family.

"Despite the obvious grief of losing a husband, father, and granddad, we celebrate the life of a man whose principles were only surpassed by his kindness," the statement said. "Regardless of your walk of life, before my dad you were a person first - deserving of respect, empathy, and fairness. He is missed."

Judge McDonald's wife, Holly Taft Sydlow, found him unresponsive at home, their son said, adding that his father is presumed to have died of natural causes.

Word about the well-respected judge's passing spread quickly among the legal community. Many colleagues said Judge McDonald was the go-to for questions about legal or even personal issues, said William Meyer, the Toledo Bar Association's president who knew Judge McDonald for nearly 40 years.

"He was really a judge's judge," Mr. Meyer said. "He was the highest quality human being that you could ask for."

In 1982, Mr. Meyer had his first case in federal court as a defense attorney, while the future Judge McDonald was an assistant U.S. prosecutor. Mr. Meyer wasn't quite familiar with some of the federal court's operating procedures. But the future judge and another prosecutor helped, despite being on "the opposite team."

"That's just the kind of guy he was. It's just such a great loss," Mr. Meyer said.

David Bauer, a former U.S. attorney in Toledo, recalled Judge McDonald's intelligence and fairness, attributes evident when they were assistant county prosecutors.

"He had a great respect for the law," said Mr. Bauer, who retired in 2012 as longtime chief of the U.S. Attorney's Toledo branch office. "All of those qualities he had as a prosecutor carried over when he became a judge."

And away from the courtroom, "you could not find a nicer man," Mr. Bauer said. "He was very down-to-earth and concerned about other people and a pleasure to be around. He was exactly the same on the bench as in person."

Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Goulding took to social media Tuesday after learning the news through courthouse staff. He noted the death last week of retired Judge James Jensen.

"That's why I and so many people here at the courthouse are so shocked. Just after losing Judge Jensen, whom I replaced when I came over [to Common Pleas Court], to now not only lose a mentor like Jim Jensen ... to lose Fred, it's just been devastating for us," Judge Goulding said.

Judge McDonald presided over Judge Goulding's swearing-in ceremony. Like others, Judge Goulding sought advice from the elder judge on procedural matters and on how to work with various litigant personalities.

Judge McDonald's legacy endures in Judge Goulding's courtroom. Judge McDonald saved all of his jury instructions from every trial he oversaw to a thumb drive, which he gave to Judge Goulding.

"With that resource to go to, it has made my job and my staff's job a heck of a lot easier and we are able to operate more efficiently because of the efficiencies that Fred brought to his way of doing things," Judge Goulding said. "I have all of Judge McDonald's jury instructions - what a gift."

Judge McDonald and his wife were supportive of Jingle Balls, a charity concert to raise funds for Legal Aid, and he took time to check in with former colleagues and offer words of encouragement.

"He was a guy who could fit in a crowded bar with a bunch of amateur talent on stage as much as he could wearing a robe and presiding over a four-week trial," Judge Goulding said.

Defense lawyer Lorin Zaner said the judge was fair and always willing to help others.

"I think Judge McDonald was a wonderful judge. He was very intelligent. He reached out to help people if they needed help," Mr. Zaner told The Blade. "In fact, years ago he called me to help an attorney who was way over his head on a rape case, and I came in for free and helped resolve the case."

Before Judge McDonald's retirement in February, 2015, then-Judge James Bates described him as an "illustration of what judges should be," while then-Judge Ruth Ann Franks described him as a "gentleman to all litigants."

Judge Bates on Wednesday recalled they met by trying cases against each other in juvenile court - he as a prosecutor's office intern; Judge McDonald as a Toledo Legal Aid Society staff lawyer.

"Fred was the advocate for the downtrodden and the underdog," Judge Bates said. They were county assistant prosecutors together.

"He really argued the facts of a case," Judge Bates said.

Judge McDonald brought the sum of those qualities to the Common Pleas bench.

"He was so even tempered," Judge Bates said. "No matter what the defense attorney did, no matter what the prosecutor did, it did not ruffle his feathers."

State law precluded Judge McDonald from seeking another six-year term when he stepped down.

"I don't feel burned out, but I'm not going to miss sentencing people every Tuesday morning," Judge McDonald, then 71, said weeks before his retirement. "That's the most difficult part of the job, I think, by far."

In retirement, Judge McDonald frequently served as a visiting judge in Toledo Municipal Court, Lucas County Common Pleas Court, and other venues.

A native of Poland, Ohio, he was born Aug. 8, 1943, to Mariam and Thomas Hill McDonald. He was a graduate of Poland High School and Carleton College. He received his law degree from Georgetown University and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in December, 1968.

He was a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War.

He joined the Toledo Legal Aid Society in 1970 and was assistant director of the civil branch when he became an assistant county prosecutor in 1973. He was selected in 1978 as an assistant U.S. attorney in Toledo.

Then-Gov. Richard Celeste appointed him in 1986 to the Toledo Municipal Court bench when Judge Charles Abood was appointed to the Common Pleas bench. Governor Celeste the next year appointed Judge McDonald to Common Pleas Court, where he succeeded Judge George Glasser, who was elected to the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals.

He was a 1997 recipient of the Arabella Babb Mansfield Award from the Toledo Women's Bar Association. He served on the diversity committee of the Toledo Bar Association. He also was a frequent visitor to Wildwood Preserve Metropark and the downtown Toledo Lucas County Public Library.

The family formerly lived in West Toledo's Old Orchard neighborhood and in Ottawa Hills. He was devoted to his grandsons Owen, Colin, and Connor, said his wife, who was first president of the Toledo Women's Bar Association and an assistant U.S. attorney.

Surviving are his wife, Holly Taft Sydlow, whom he married May 15, 1976; sons, William and Charles McDonald; brothers, Marll and Richard McDonald, and three grandsons.

A memorial service will be held later.

The family suggests tributes to Metroparks Toledo or the public library.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney and Allison Dunn. Contact Mr. Zaborney at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182. Contact Ms. Dunn at adunn@theblade.com.