Bangor Daily News profiles retiring judge Staples '55 as he enters seminary

The Bangor Daily News profiles retiring Maine District Court judge Bernard Staples ’55, who this fall begins studying to be a minister at Grace Evangelical Seminary in Bangor. Reflecting on his 21 1/2/ years as a judge, Staples tells reporter Judy Harrison that “I hope I treated people fairly. Above all, I hope that I have protected children.” From the bench in Ellsworth, he’s witnessed seen the weakening of family support for children and hopes that “we can reach a point in our society when two people become married that it is a lifelong commitment and their children can have the benefit of constant contact with both parents.” After his wife’s death and his own poor health several years ago, Staples began thinking about what he might do after retirement. “I started to reflect on my relationship to my lord Jesus Christ and to God,” he said. “I decided that for whatever years I have left, I can’t think of a better way to spend them than in a classroom with a teacher and other students.” View story from the Bangor Daily News, Aug. 2, 2010.