SAN FRANCISCO — Federal judges in the Pacific Northwest and beyond are mourning the passing of retired Bankruptcy Judge Thomas T. Glover of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington. Judge Glover, 73, died August 13, 2018, at a hospital in Kirkland, Washington. The respected jurist had been battling a progressive lung disease for some time and passed away peacefully with family present.

Judge Glover was first appointed to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District in 1985. He was reappointed in 1999 and served as the chief judge of his court from 1994 to 2001. He retired in 2010. Colleagues described him as a workhorse who handled 122,593 cases during his 25 years on the court.

Judge Glover, who had his chambers in Seattle, was well known to the bankruptcy bar for his mediation skills. He mediated many disputes in the district and had a long-standing reputation as an excellent settlement judge. The Western District’s bankruptcy mediation program, launched in 2012, is named after him. The bankruptcy court in Nevada welcomed Judge Glover’s help with its burgeoning caseload, and he traveled there frequently to handle settlement conferences.

While he presided over many high-profile matters, Judge Glover used to tell people that his most memorable moment was having to tell a raspberry farmer that he simply could not recover and was going to lose his farm. Having spent his youth as a 4H member raising Holstein cattle to earn college money, Judge Glover felt it personally and described it as the most difficult thing he had to do as a judge.

Practitioners appearing before Judge Glover could be confident that he would be well prepared, have thought through the issues, and would be interested in the most pragmatic, economical and fair result for all parties, a former law clerk wrote. He was also said to be expeditious and did not countenance delays. A profile of Judge Glover published in the Federal Bar Association newsletter in 2009 noted that his Friday morning motions calendar quickly became known as the “rocket docket.”

Judge Glover served on a national task force involved in creating the Judiciary’s first electronic case filing and management system. The Western District was one of the first courts to adopt the system. He was also a member of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council Task Force on Judicial Disability Policy.

Born in Seattle, Judge Glover grew up in nearby Monroe. Although congenital cataracts left him almost blind, he managed to earn his B.A. in 1967 from Washington State University, where he served as student body president, and his J.D. in 1970 from the University of Washington School of Law. He began his career with the Seattle firm of Johnson, Quigley, Hatch and Loveridge, where he practiced for 15 years before coming onto the bench. He was a member of the American Bar Association, the Washington State Bar Association and the Seattle-King County Bar Association.

Judge Glover is survived by his wife of 51 years, Gretchen; their 5 children, Dr. Sarah Glover, Dr. Andrew Glover, Laura Wasson, Karen Lytle and Martha Glover; and 15 grandchildren.

A memorial service is tentatively planned for September 22, 2018, at 4 p.m. at the Sonrise Christian Center in Everett, Washington.

Judge Glover was a man of deep faith who made 18 trips to Israel. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to:

Beit Tikvah – House of Hope
7935 136th Ave.
Newcastle, Washington 98059

– U.S. Courts for the Ninth Circuit