Those who knew R. Eugene Pincham describe him as a humble man who cared about his community and equality for Blacks. “He was an outstanding man that the West Chesterfield community will miss sorely,” said Carl Flagg, 75. “His death is a
Flagg has lived around the corner from Pincham since 1961 at 94th and Wabash Avenue. Pincham lived on 93rd and Michigan Avenue and his son, Robert, lives nearby on 93rd and Wabash Avenue.
Flagg’s memories of Pincham, 82, who died Thursday after a bout with cancer, go back a long way. “We would have lunch together at Captain’s Hard Time restaurant and just sat around and talk a lot. He was a conversationalist,” Flagg, a former Chicago police officer, recalled.
The retired appellate court judge’s sway carried beyond the courtroom, according to James Hardwick, 40, another former neighbor of Pincham’s. “I was about 4 or 5 when my friends and I would race our big wheels up and down his block,” Hardwick recalls.
“On more than one occasion when he heard us cursing, he called us over to his front door to tell us how we need to respect ourselves and not curse. I can still hear him saying, ‘you not only make yourself and your parents look bad when cursing, but you make all us Black folks look bad too.’
He was always admirable about Blacks portraying a positive image in public.” Hardwick, who lived on 93rd and King Drive until 1988, now works as a sherriff’s deputy at the Cook County Jail. “I guess you can say he left a lasting impression on me and through his success as an attorney, I saw the need to follow him and pursue a career in law enforcement,” Hardwick added.
“He was always saying how the criminal justice system was unfair to Blacks, so I decided to become a law enforcement officer to see if I can make a difference just like he did as a lawyer and judge.”
Pincham began his career as a criminal defense attorney before becoming a Cook County Circuit Court judge and a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court. After retiring from the Appellate Court in 1989, he embarked on a political career and ran for several offices, including mayor, before returning to his roots as a defense attorney.
“And that is how he will be remembered the most, as a great defense attorney,” said Donald M. Brown, 59, who has known Pincham since age 3. “My late father Donald C. Brown worked with Pincham in the 1950’s when the two of them worked at the Palmer House Hotel.
This was during the 1950’s when Pincham was still in law school,” Brown said. “Pincham would come by my house and have lunch with my dad and the two of them would have their intellectual conversations about Black folks.” Brown, a former Chicago police officer, describes Pincham as a legal genius. “He was the foremost and best defense lawyer in Chicago.
He was an unparalleled, legal advocate for defendants who had no equal [when it came to defense lawyers] in Chicago. In the courtroom Brown recalls how nervous police officers and prosecutors were when they saw him.
“They knew if Pincham was the had violated any of the defendants’ constitutional rights. If so, Pincham would get the case tossed out,” added Brown. A native of Limestone County in Northern Alabama, Pincham moved to Chicago in 1947 to attend Northwestern University’s law school. In August of the following year, he married his college sweetheart Alzata Henry.
They were married until her death in April 2005. Pincham kept a portrait of his late wife near the front door of their South Side home. He began practicing law in 1951 when he joined the firm Evins, Pincham, Fowlkes and Cooper.
Pincham was admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1965. Two sons, Robert and James Frederick Pincham, and a daughter Dr. Andrea Michelle Pincham- Benton, survive Pincham.
He also has two grandchildren, Evan Eugene Pincham and Christiana Alexandria Pincham. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Cancer Survive Scholarship Fund at Trinity United Church of Christ. Pincham’s late wife, Alzata, established the fund.
Pincham’s wake is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Trinity, 400 W. 95th St. The 11 a.m. funeral will follow. Pincham will be interred at Oak Woods Cemetery, 1035 S. 67th St.
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