Bucks Writs - Summer 2017 - 11

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CHAPTER 13

Isaac S. "Zeke" Garb

- By The Hon. John J. Rufe, Sr. Judge

W

hen I was a young lad,
19 or 20, I spent a good
portion of the summers
in my older brother Hart's company.
Hart Rufe was then a lawyer who was
active in the County Democratic Party.
He later became a Judge and is now
retired. I had the privilege of working
side by side with him first as a lawyer
and then as a Judge for our County. In
his company, I was introduced to a lot
of people as we travelled from Court
House to Justice of the Peace offices.
(It was in 1973 that the Constitution
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created District Courts and
eliminated the old Justice of the Peace
practice), and from political committee
meetings to kids' games, ice cream
sodas and other places unknown.

me, and finally said, "Aren't you Hart
Rufe's brother?" I had been found
out: here! on the other side of the
world! I learned from that, that you're
never far enough away to be free to
act like a fool, a lesson well learned!
The lady turned out to be Joan
Garb, Zeke's wife.

Judge Garb was fair, he
was pithy, he explained
his decisions, and he was
unfailingly courteous to
attorneys and parties alike.
ADAs were almost willing
to pay to be assigned
to his court room.

One Saturday afternoon in June, Glenn
Supplee and I were roving the streets
of New Hope in search of a pair of dates.
While I was looking around in a New Hope Gift Shop,
Glenn was on the pay telephone which was at the end
of the small hallway. Glenn got a little bit loud and said,
"The one girl's OK, but the other is a real dog." I looked
up and noticed a lady staring at me intently. Because I was
in New Hope, on the other side of the world, I thought I
would say something silly about the remark. But I just said,
"He's right; she is a dog." The lady continued to look at

I became reacquainted with Zeke in
the summer of 1965. My brother
was chairman of the Upper Bucks
Democratic Committee and I was in
that Neverland between law student
and lawyer where passage of the
Bar Exam meant admission to the
profession. The Bar Exam at that time
was a two day, sixteen hour, all essay
exam and I was exhausted by the time
the two days were over. While the
terrible wait for results was on, I was
travelling with Hart to various venues
in the Democratic cause.

At this time, Bill Eastburn was the Republican Party
nominee for D.A., having defeated Ward Clark in the
primary. Disgruntled Republicans who supported Ward in
the primary would not go quietly into the dark, dark night,
and so negotiated a fusion ticket, uniting with Democrats
in the hope of overcoming the Republican Registration
and straight party choices. Ward replaced Isaac S. Garb on
the Democratic ticket. Zeke, humbly and gracefully bowed
11

SUMMER 2017



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