James Albert Lineberger, 84, Common Pleas judge

James Albert Lineberger, 84, a retired Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge, died Wednesday, Oct. 29, of end-stage renal failure at Kindred Hospital of the Palm Beaches in Riviera Beach, Fla.

A former resident of Philadelphia and Pemberton, Burlington County, he had moved in 2010 to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to be close to his family.

Judge Lineberger was elected to Common Pleas Court in 1991 after spending 13 years practicing law. While serving in the court's Criminal Trial Division, he presided over hundreds of cases.

He was a tough, no-nonsense jurist, known for his sharp intellect and keen wit.

He did not cotton to fools and could be very hard on citizens who angled to be excused from a jury without good cause. "It would have to bring a tear to my left eye," he told such connivers, according to a friend and colleague, Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart.

"He was just a terrific guy, an unforgettable person," Minehart said.

Judge Lineberger took senior judge status at age 70 and continued to handle a full caseload until retiring at age 75 in 2005.

Born in Stanley, N.C., Judge Lineberger grew up in the segregated South. He joined the Army at 18 and was promoted to first sergeant at 22.

In 1954, while stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, he married Ursula Elizabeth Schoenfeld. She died in 1966.

While in the military, Judge Lineberger completed a bachelor's degree in secondary education and German at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1964. He was fluent in German.

He retired from the military in 1968 and settled in Pemberton.

That year, Judge Lineberger was recruited by executive director William H. Wilcox to join his group, the Greater Philadelphia Movement.

The organization had been formed in the late 1940s to address corruption in city government. Judge Lineberger became a liaison between blacks and whites, and helped administer a $1 million revitalization grant that had been given to the Black Coalition.

He worked with such notables as A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., a U.S. District Court judge, and Robert N.C. Nix Jr., the first African American to serve as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1971, Judge Lineberger became the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Movement.

In 1974, at age 44 - two decades after most lawyers receive their training - Judge Lineberger enrolled in night classes at Temple University School of Law. He completed his law degree in 1978.

After Judge Lineberger helped Edward G. Rendell unseat incumbent Philadelphia District Attorney F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, Rendell hired Judge Lineberger as deputy for community relations.

"He was wonderful at community relations," Rendell said. "He was elegant, a beautiful speaker, and he could get along with anybody. He had a knack for making people like him."

Between 1978 and 1986, while also acting as senior trial assistant, Judge Lineberger distinguished himself as a prosecutor in the office's Rape and Career Criminal Units, where he tried hundreds of felony cases.

In 1986, Judge Lineberger left the District Attorney's Office and established a private criminal-defense and civil-litigation practice before ascending to the bench.

Judge Lineberger received many honors over the years, including the 2006 Eagle Award from the Clifford Scott Green Chapter of the National Bar Association's Judicial Council in Philadelphia.

In March, he was honored by his friends and former colleagues at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office with the 2013 Raymond J. Harley Award.

In his leisure time, Judge Lineberger enjoyed fishing. He loved to hunt game birds and rabbits with his dogs. He was a Prince Hall Mason and a member of Foster Military Lodge Temple, Willingboro.

Surviving are a daughter, Carmen M.; a son, Jesse A.; and five grandchildren.

A visitation from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at Sharon Baptist Church, 3955 Conshohocken Ave., Philadelphia, will be followed by a funeral at 11. Interment with full military honors will be at a later date in Beverly National Cemetery.

Donations may be made to the National Kidney Foundation Inc., 30 E. 33d St., New York, N.Y. 10016, or www.kidney.org/donate.