Nevius died Thursday after a long career teaching law and serving as Clark County Municipal Court Judge. He was first appointed judge in 1981 and served until earlier this year when he retired citing health concerns.
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“It’s a sad day here at the Clark County Municipal Court,” said Clark County Municipal Court Judge Thomas Trempe.
Trempe is younger than Nevius, and first met him at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. Trempe was a student at the time while Nevius was teaching at the university’s law school. What stood out throughout Nevius’ career, Trempe said, was a lifelong dedication to the courts and the law. Along with teaching law students, Nevius also founded Clark County’s first public defender’s office, and he held various leadership positions over the years at the Association of Municipal and County Judges of Ohio.
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“It’s a high-volume court and you sometimes see bad people, but you also see a lot of people who are in difficult straits,” Trempe said of Nevius’ job. “It can be difficult work some days, but Nevius was able to attack the work to always see that justice was done.”
Nevius grew up in Clark County and graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1965. He attended Xavier University and received his law degree from Ohio Northern University. He was first appointed as a judge in 1981. He won several subsequent elections, including to his latest six-year term in 2015.
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“He took very seriously the pursuit of justice throughout his career,” Trempe said.
It makes sense that Nevius took his legal career seriously. Both his father and grandfather were attorneys, and one of his sons, Stephen, is an attorney. But at home, Nevius was mostly remembered for his quick wit and his sense of humor, said Erin Nevius, his daughter.
He also liked to give his children unusual gifts. In one instance, she still remembers receiving a top that played a Beach Boys song as it spun.
He was also devoted to his wife, Nancy, and their children. Despite his busy schedule, he somehow never missed their sports games or any of the other activities they were involved in. Even as an adult, Erin said she remembers her dad driving from Springfield to Cincinnati to watch a presentation she was giving on online genealogy.
“He didn’t even have the Internet at that time,” she said.
Judge Michael Brandt is now retired from Franklin County Municipal Court, but said he became friends with Nevius while both were members of the Association of Municipal Judges of Ohio. Brandt and Nevius often played golf together and sat with a small group of close friends whenever they attended judicial conferences and similar events. Health problems made it difficult to serve in the last few years and Brandt said he encouraged Nevius not to run in his last election. But Nevius loved the job so much he ran anyway and won.
“It took its toll on him but it didn’t stop him,” Brandt said.
Clark County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Capper also first met Nevius at Ohio Northern when Capper was a student. Capper said Nevius had a distinguished career and never shied away from addressing local issues that impacted the courts, regardless of whether his opinions were popular.
But Capper said if someone had asked Nevius about his legacy, they might have been surprised. Despite his long legal career, Nevius was most proud of his three children, Capper said.
“Knowing Gene the way I know him, that was most important to him,” Capper said.
Erin Nevius said her dad made sure his children knew it too.
“He always said, ‘The best thing I ever did was to see you become your own people,” she said quoting her dad.
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