Judge Nick-named Hammer for Quick Decisions

By Randy Richmond
London Free Press
February 1, 2017

http://www.lfpress.com/2017/02/01/judge-nick-named-hammer-for-quick-decisions

John Kerr

To his family and friends, John Kerr was a lovable raconteur, treasured companion, and an avid skier and sailor.

To the victims in a church sexual abuse case, “Hammer” Kerr’s groundbreaking ruling redeemed their faith in justice.

John (Brud) Kerr died Jan. 28. two days short of his 86th birthday after a life on the bench, the water, the ski hills and among beloved family and friends.

His 60th wedding anniversary would have been in March.

“We just had a phenomenal experience and stayed good friends. When you are married 60 years you need to be good friends,” his wife Camille said. “People should know he loved his job on the bench. He loved his kids. He was a hilariously funny man.”

Kerr had a family nickname, Brud, and a judiciary nickname, The Hammer.

“When she was little, my mother couldn’t say the word brother, so she would say Brud,” niece Kerri Gallo recalled. The name stuck forever in the close-knit, large extended family that spent summers together at their cottages in Erieau.

“He was a great man. He had a great sense of humour,” said Gallo. “He was compassionate and passionate about his work.”

The Hammer nick-name came from admiring journalists in Cobourg, Camille Kerr said. Her husband sat for a time on the bench there and rarely reserved judgement, choosing to make rulings on the spot.

Born in Chatham, Kerr established the Beechie Kerr & Madison law firm in London. He was appointed a judge of the Ontario district court in 1983, presiding in courtrooms from Windsor to Kingston the next 23 years.

There were so many court decisions, she can’t remember them all, Camille said.

But she expressed pride over one of Kerr’s toughest, the civil court decision in 2004 that awarded $1.39 million to the Swales family in a groundbreaking case against the Roman Catholic Diocese of London and disgraced priest Barry Glendinning.

It was believed to be the first case awarding damages to parents of sexual abuse victims, and among the highest payouts for pain and suffering awarded in Canada.

“He restored our faith in justice,” John Swales said. The ruling signalled to abuse victims across the country they would be heard, Swales said.

Kerr oversaw the emotional 33-day civil trial with a combination of firmness and occasional wry humour, he added.

“He took his role very, very seriously. He gave hope to a person from a different world that he would be heard and be given a fair result.”

A celebration of Kerr’s life will take place Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the London Hunt Club, and “an old fashioned Erieau wake will take place in Erieau this coming summer,” his obituary states.

Contact: rrichmond@postmedia.com