Steve Aldrich was not available for comment as this article went to press. Those who know him understand that he was not available at all. If he had been available, he would have been available for comment.

But Steve’s unavailability was not a problem. I have a large supply of Steve Aldrich comments. I also have his mother’s telephone number (she’s my paternal grandmother’s sister-in-law), and she was available for comment. She said that she recently asked Steve why he wanted to be a judge. He said, "Because I like to make decisions." She also told me that Steve was a good student as a child but that "he could have been a better student if he had worked harder."

Stephen Charles Aldrich was born on Oct. 28, 1941, in Minneapolis to George Francis and Marjorie (Belle) Shimel Aldrich. He and his family lived in south Minneapolis throughout his childhood. He graduated from Washburn High School in 1959. He attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, graduating in 1963 with a B.A. in history. At Grinnell he met Myrna Ann Sumption, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, whom he married in 1964.

After college, Steve moved to New York City, where he attended Union Theological Seminary. As he once explained in an autobiographical sketch in our extended family’s genealogical history book:

I went to Union Seminary thinking I might be called to the ministry, attracted to it by the opportunities for counseling, creating social justice, and being on stage as teacher and leader . . . . I [later] began to see the power of words as they expressed law and public policy – and as people’s lives were changed, sometimes for the worse, by the power of the words behind government actions.

Steve initially went to Washington, D.C., for a lay internship at a church and in the office of Rep. Donald M. Fraser, who has been a friend ever since. He later worked as a budget examiner at the U.S. Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget), where he was responsible for reviewing the civil works portion of the budget of the Army Corps of Engineers. It was during this period that he decided to go to law school.

Steve entered law school at the University of Minnesota in 1968. He was a staff member on the Minnesota Law Review, and published a note on a Minnesota statute regulating flood plains.¹ He also was active in the school’s legal aid clinic. After law school, he served for one year as a law clerk for Judge Philip Neville of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. He developed enormous respect for Judge Neville and considers him a judicial role model.

After his clerkship, Steve worked at the Senate Counsel’s office at the Minnesota State Senate. Among other things, he worked on legislation reorganizing metropolitan government in the Twin Cities. Steve then became an assistant city attorney for the city of St. Paul. He worked both on housing issues and on misdemeanor criminal cases, winning all seven jury trials during his tenure there.

Steve then decided to enter private practice as a sole practitioner:

Not knowing any better, and being encouraged by my friends who had tried it, Myrna and I opened a Ma and Pa Law Store over the Hardware Surplus store, on the corner of Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street in South Minneapolis. A commercial intersection that had lost ground to suburban expansion, it had one big attribute - the First Bloomington Lake National Bank, where my father had banked for 35 years. The bankers said they needed an attorney on the corner and put a small loan behind their words. Since Myrna had never been a legal secretary and I had never practiced law privately, it seemed natural to dive in. We did a general practice – probates, wills, divorces, personal injuries, drunk driving, bankruptcy, real estate and wet basement lawsuits. . . . [T]here was not much use on Lake Street for the securities fraud law I learned in federal court.

Steve’s practice soon began to focus on family law. He built a small law firm at that location, employing associates and law clerks until 1983, when he moved his office to downtown Minneapolis.

Throughout over 20 years in private practice, Steve has been at the center of many developments in family law. He was among the first to argue that, in determining spousal support, courts should give greater consideration to a working spouse’s financial contributions that allowed a student spouse to pursue higher education. A version of his approach eventually was adopted by the Minnesota Supreme Court.² He appeared before the Minnesota Court of Appeals on 10 occasions.³ He once joined an amicus curiae brief filed in the Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of the Family Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association.⁴ He helped draft and advocated for the 1985 bar-sponsored amendments to the spousal maintenance statutes. Most recently, he published a short article opposing proposed legislation to reestablish a fault-based divorce system.⁵ All the while, he served hundreds of clients exceedingly well.

Steve has been active in many bar organizations. In 1981 he was named a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He long has been a teacher of continuing education courses. He has been active in the Hennepin County Bar Association and currently serves as a member of the Ethics Committee.

In Steve’s words, "The themes that fill my life and from which I draw pleasure and meaning include family, music, athletics, church, and social and community action." These themes provide a convenient way to describe Steve’s personal life.

Family. Steve’s and Myrna’s lives are more closely intertwined than most married couples as she twice has served as his secretary and legal assistant while he was in private practice. Steve once wrote, "She has a whip-quick mind, artistic sensitivity and talents, a gift with teenagers, and a loyalty that doesn’t end." They have sons Jeffrey, 31, who lives in south Minneapolis, and David, 24, who lives with his wife, Angela Bailey-Aldrich, in northeast Minneapolis, and a foster son, Shuwn McDearmon, 25, who lives in downtown Minneapolis. Steve and Myrna live on Nicollet Island.

Music. Steve once wrote, "I love to sing, to hear others sing well, alone or in a group, and I love music in almost all its forms. My earliest memories include family singing.

Athletics. For many years, Steve has organized softball and basketball teams to play in the various bar leagues. He also golfs regularly.

Church. Steve an Myrna are active members of the Mayflower Community Church.

Social and Community Action. Steve has been a volunteer in civic groups too numerous to mention, and Steve and Myrna have been involved in politics for years, both at the neighborhood and state-wide level.

Steve’s list of themes, of course, does not tell the whole story. Many other qualities spring to mind.

He is very energetic. He always seems to be in high gear. He never appears tired.

He is very gregarious. He has an unusually large capacity for meeting, getting to know, and staying in touch with other people. He knows the people of this area as if it were a small town.

He is very generous. He always has time for his family and friends. For example, when I was a recent college graduate, new to the area and looking for my first job, he suggested that we meet for lunch. We did, and then we talked for an additional two hours in his office, where he shared with me an abundance of inspiring thoughts and gave me dozens of names to call.

He is very analytical. Even trivial statements are well reasoned. He has considered the important issues of our day and (in the past, if not the present and future) has been more than willing to share his views.

I haven’t yet seen Judge Aldrich in action, but I think I have a sense for his style of judging. I have a feeling that his extensive government experience (he has served in all three branches of our federal government and, having reached his current position, all three branches of state and local government) will reveal itself in a sophisticated view of the role of the state courts in our system of government. I would guess that he will be a very active judge, questioning lawyers vigorously. I expect that, in his eyes, no case will be routine. I am confident that he will take pleasure in tackling both the difficult legal issues and the difficult factual issues that are presented to him. I believe that he will be less formal than some judges, making sure that all citizens of Hennepin County feel welcome in his courtroom. And I suspect that hearings in his courtroom will move as quickly as any in the courthouse.

As a not-so-distant relative, I may never know firsthand whether my sense is correct. I am certain, however, that you will enjoy getting to know Judge Aldrich and that he will enjoy getting to know you.