Retired U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, who for nearly 30 years compiled the popular humor column et cetera for the Texas Bar Journal, died Monday, Sept. 21, of natural causes. He was 76. He served as chief judge of the Northern District of Texas from 1995 to 2001 and took senior status in 2003 before retiring in 2008.
Judge Buchmeyer received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1957. He was a partner in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight, where he worked from 1958 until his appointment to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. That same year, while Judge Buchmeyer was serving as president of the Dallas Bar Association, he began writing the et cetera column for DBA publications. In October 1980, the column first appeared in the Texas Bar Journal, where it quickly became a mainstay. The December 2008 issue paid tribute to Judge Buchmeyer’s many years of service, and readers can still enjoy his columns on the Say What? blog.
Judge Buchmeyer is survived by his sons, Jon Paul Buchmeyer of New York and James Buchmeyer of Dallas; daughters Paige Buchmeyer Brady of Driftwood and Pam Buchmeyer of Dallas; and three grandchildren. Services are pending.