Sims: London legal community mourns retired judge, gone at age 72

The mood has been heavy around London’s courthouse at the news retired Ontario Court Justice John Skowronski passed away last weekend.

“Skow,” as everyone called him, was a fixture in the local halls of justice. It’s difficult to imagine a more universally beloved member of the local legal community. If a stack of serious health problems hadn’t sidelined him, it’s safe to assume Skowronski, who was 72, would still be presiding in court.

“As counsel, as an assistant Crown attorney and as a justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, he always demonstrated, often in his own unique way, his sense of fairness, of integrity and of his commitment to his role in the justice system,” said his friend, retired Middlesex County Crown attorney Geoff Beasley.

Skowronski’s self-deprecating, humble “nort