The day he was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be a U.S. district judge in New Jersey, Dickinson R. Debevoise did not do what most would do in his position—he did not celebrate. But he did what was typical of him: He went to see another federal judge who, like him, had clerked for Judge Phillip Forman, and said, “Tell me what to do to prepare myself to be a judge.” But he was already prepared to be a judge. Indeed, he was ready to be a great judge. His life and his quest for justice had prepared him for this moment. Judge Debevoise was raised in South Orange. His father was a banker, his mother a homemaker, and he had two younger brothers. He lived in a community with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins nearby. By his own account, it was a big and loving family that gave him a great sense of security.
Just across the ravine from his home lived a young girl named Katrina S. Leeb, who years later became his wife. Katrina provided him with unwavering love, fierce loyalty, and four wonderful daughters—Kate, Josie, Molly and Abigail. His daughters, in turn, gave him and his wife seven grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.
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