Michael C. Richman, former Montgomery County district justice and Wilt Chamberlain’s longtime friend and lawyer, has died at 84
He won election to the bench in Cheltenham and Jenkintown as a Republican in 1985 and reelection in 1991 and 1997.
Michael C. Richman, 84, formerly of Elkins Park, former Montgomery County district justice in Jenkintown Borough and Cheltenham Township, former vice chairman of the Cheltenham Township Planning Commission, longtime lawyer for basketball stars Wilt Chamberlain and Sonny Hill, private attorney, lecturer, and volunteer, died Saturday, Feb. 28, after a brief illness at Trustbridge Care Center in Boca Raton, Fla.
Born in Philadelphia, Justice Richman grew up in Oxford Circle and in Melrose Park in Montgomery County, and graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1959. He was the son of Ike Richman, onetime co-owner of the 76ers NBA basketball team, and he became lifelong friends with and a lawyer for Chamberlain, Hill, and other prominent Philadelphians.
He had family dinners with NBA Hall of Famer Eddie Gotlieb when he was young and grew up watching Tom Gola set basketball records at La Salle University in the 1950s. He helped persuade a reluctant Chamberlain to celebrate with the 76ers when they retired his No. 13 in 1991 and represented the NFL’s Eagles and the local Charles Baker and Sonny Hill Basketball Leagues in legal matters.
He earned his bachelor’s degree and law degree at Temple University, and was appointed Montgomery County district justice for Jenkintown and Cheltenham in 1984 to replace retiring Justice James O’Brien. He won election to the bench as a Republican in 1985 and reelection in 1991 and 1997. In 2003, he lost to Democrat Michael McHugh by 14 votes.
For 19 years, from his courtroom on Old York Road in Elkins Park, Justice Richman presided over hundreds of cases involving murder, assault, rape, theft, burglary, drunken driving, drugs, disorderly conduct, conspiracy, loitering, trespass, and other charges. He supervised arraignments and preliminary hearings, swore in other government officials, and spoke publicly about legal issues at schools and elsewhere.
In 1987, an irritated homeowner in Melrose Park told The Inquirer that she sued a bungling dishwasher repair company “to avenge every woman who ever waited in vain for a repairman.” Justice Richman awarded her a judgment of $168.50 and said: “She’s a very imaginative lady. The average person would not have done what she did.”
In 1989, he negotiated a plea agreement between a bar owner and Jenkintown police regarding charges of disorderly conduct and public urination by the bar’s patrons. The result was a reduced $1,500 fine for the bar owner, and Justice Richman remarked that borough residents “deserved to have some dignity in their neighborhood.”
Lawyer Bruce Hanes called Justice Richman “very courteous, very evenhanded” in 2003, and longtime Cheltenham Township commissioner Gordon G. Lawrence praised his “competence, fairness, conscientiousness, and integrity” in a 2003 letter to The Inquirer’s editor.
Sonny Hill said: “He was warm, generous, and affectionate. He was a people person.”
Justice Richman marked Constitution Week in September 2003 by explaining the document and its long history to students at Elkins Park Middle School. The Inquirer covered his 1992 legal discussion at Wyncote Elementary School, and he told the students there: “You become a judge because you love working with people.”
He cross-filed in several primary elections to appeal to more voters and told The Inquirer when he was running for reelection in 1997: “This court, more than any other, deals with people, and the problems that affect them are serious. It’s a tremendous responsibility.”
He was president of the Montgomery County District Justice Association and vice chair of the Cheltenham Township Planning Commission in the 1980s. Earlier, he was a Republican committeeman in Montgomery County and party solicitor in Cheltenham.
He practiced privately with his father’s law firm and others for more than 50 years, and semi-retired about five years ago. He never stopped engaging with family and friends.
“He was our hero,” said his son Ike, “our coach, our teacher, our mentor.”
Michael Charles Richman was born March 6, 1941. He and his younger brother, David, grew up as roommates, and they spent hours together listening to music by Elvis Presley, Frankie Ford, and other early rock and rollers on 45-rpm records.
He could fix cars and install stereos, his brother said, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1963 and law degree in 1966. After college, he remained active with the Temple Owl Club and the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. “He could do anything he put his mind to,” his brother said.
He married Merle Krausen, and they had sons Ike and Don and a daughter, Alison. After a divorce, he married his wife, Lois, and they lived in Elkins Park and Langhorne before relocating to Florida.
Justice Richman was a longtime member of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park and board president of the Elkins Park Fire Company. He ran miles and miles with the Elkins Park Roadrunners and learned to skate so he could join his children on the ice at the Old York Road Skating Club.
He liked to grill and hosted many memorable family gatherings at Hanukkah and Passover. He mailed birthday cards year round to family and friends, and escorted his daughter to football and basketball games at Temple.
He loved Frank Sinatra songs and told great stories. “I remember once going to play miniature golf with Wilt in Margate,” Justice Richman told the Daily News in 1990. “I looked up and realized we had a gallery of about 200.”
Justice Richman doted on his children and grandchildren. He enjoyed summer days in Longport, N.J., and evenings out at dinner and the theater.
He traveled to Europe often with his wife. “It was always about everybody but himself,” his daughter said. “He was one of a kind.”
His son Don said: “I always felt like he was walking with me.” His son Ike said: “We would shine in the light he made.”
In addition to his wife, children, and brother, Justice Richman is survived by eight grandchildren, a sister, his former wife, and other relatives.
Private services are to be held later.
Donations in his name may be made to the Temple Owl Club, 1816 N. 15th St., Third Floor, Philadelphia, Pa. 19121; the Elkins Park Fire Company, 7818 Montgomery Ave., Elkins Park, Pa. 19027; and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, David Ben-Gurion Blvd. 1, Be’er Sheva, Israel.