Judge John Langford, who presided over cases in Fulton County Superior Court and around the state for decades, died Saturday at the age of 88.

Langford's legacy extends far beyond the legal community, as friends and family recalled that he officiated Southeastern Conference football games during the 1960s, devoted countless hours to boys from public housing in his Boy Scout troop and enjoyed outdoor adventures like a trip on the Colorado River and a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

"He was a remarkable guy," said Senior Judge John Goger, who represented clients before Langford and later became a colleague on the superior court bench.

In the courtroom, Goger recalled, Langford could be "very tough," especially on unprepared lawyers. Langford also shrugged off fallout from unpopular decisions as lasting only a day before it was replaced by other news.

Langford grew up in Griffin and went to what is now Auburn University, where he played varsity football. Expecting to play quarterback as he did in high school, he contemplated quitting the team when  future University of Georgia head coach Vince Dooley and another player won the position.

"Coach Joel Eaves told me I could play defensive end, that I should never quit the team or anything else," Langford told Georgia Trend in 2005.

Langford served in the Air Force, went to Emory University School of Law and joined the State Bar of Georgia in 1957. He practiced with Bryan, Carter, Ansley and Smith until 1964, when Gov. Carl Sanders appointed him to the Fulton County State Court bench.

Langford would go on to head Fulton County's Juvenile Court, a job that included running the court's youth detention center. His son, David Langford, deputy general counsel at the Atlanta Housing Authority, recalled his father having to get to the center on snowy mornings to make sure someone was there to prepare food.

Langford joined the Fulton County Superior Court bench in 1972 and took senior status in 1988, embarking on a decadeslong tenure presiding over cases around the state.

One of the most memorable cases in which Langford presided, his son recalled, was the 1984 fraud trial against then-Labor Commissioner Sam Caldwell, who'd been accused of using state employees to do private work for him. An Associated Press article from the time noted that Langford told jurors that they'd be sequestered, which was "the closest thing to being in prison I'm aware of."

Caldwell was convicted, and Langford sentenced him to one year in prison and four years of probation, according to a New York Times account.

David Langford said his father didn't encourage him to pursue a career in the law. "He found the judicial system somewhat frustrating," especially when cases moved slowly.

But the judge frequently shared his knowledge of the law and the courts with Boy Scouts from the troop he ran for years at All Saints' Episcopal Church, where he brought boys from nearby Techwood Homes to meetings. Langford remembered his father arranging for boys seeking merit badges in law to sit in his courtroom watching trials.

"He was devoted to his causes and the building of character," David Langford said of his father.

Among his other pursuits, during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, the judge volunteered as a diplomat, shepherding a team from the Pacific island of Nauru, and was honored as torchbearer in the Olympic torch relay.

"You had to have patience living with my dad," said David Langford, noting his father's interest in so many activities.

Paul Howard, the Fulton County district attorney, said Langford "was a man whose performance as a judge was fashioned by the strength of his personal character and integrity, as opposed to any lessons he might have learned during his legal or educational training. He was a man who had one simple barometer: Doing what he felt was right. He shaped many of my views as a prosecutor, but most importantly, my ambition to be judged as a good man. Our community has lost a giant."

Senior Judge Cynthia Wright joined the bench after Langford had taken senior status. "He would always take the time to answer any question I may have regarding a case and never made me feel the less for asking it," she said. "We have lost a giant of a judge and of a man."

Senior Judge Gail Tusan said, "I recall clearly his kindness and encouragement when he administered the attorney's oath to me as a new lawyer and several years later when I joined him as a colleague on the Superior Court."

Chief Judge Christopher Brasher of Fulton County Superior Court said of Langford, "We're all indebted to him for his legacy of service and offer our condolences to his family."

A family-placed obituary states that a memorial service will be held Monday, Feb. 24,  at 11 a.m., at All Saints' Episcopal Church, 634 West Peachtree St. N.W.

The notice suggests that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Langford Nature Center at the Bert Adams Scout Reservation c/o Atlanta Area Council, Scouts BSA, 1800 Circle 75 Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339 or to All Saints' Episcopal Church.