Stephen Culliton’s judicial career in DuPage County included three years as chief judge and came after he worked in private practice and as chief of staff to Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan.
“His analytical skills were amazing,” said DuPage County Judge Ken Popejoy. “He taught me how to be a better judge, how to be better prepared, how to conduct myself in front of litigants and how to do that analytical work to get to the nitty-gritty and produce a decision that is more sound and less appealable.”
Culliton, 82, died of complications from lung cancer April 18 at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, said his daughter, Megan Golonka. He was a resident of Wheaton.
Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, Culliton was the son of James W. Culliton, who taught at Harvard University, and Jane Culliton. In 1951, the family moved to South Bend, Indiana, when his father became the University of Notre Dame’s business school’s dean.
Culliton received a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1964 from Notre Dame, where he worked as a cameraman filming Fighting Irish football games for WNDU-TV. Culliton moved to the Chicago area and worked as an accountant for the Union Tank Car Co. and as a senior financial analyst for U.S. Gypsum before getting a law degree from John Marshall Law School in 1970.
He worked in the DuPage’s state’s attorney’s office and was also a public defender before going into private practice at the firm of Culliton, Civinelli & Bakalis. Culliton advised Ryan on his unsuccessful bid for state attorney general in 1990, and he again worked with Ryan on his successful campaign to become attorney general in 1994.
“Everybody involved would ask Steve for advice,” said Illinois Appellate Judge Ann Jorgensen, also a former DuPage chief judge. “He had a lot of influence in local elections, including local legislative districts and a lot of judicial districts, including mine.”
After Ryan won the election for attorney general, Culliton became his chief of staff in January 1995.
“Steve ran the office and he made a lot of significant improvements to it,” Jorgensen said. “Working with Jim, he raised the standards for courtroom excellence and he set policy. And Steve was very good at mentoring young lawyers.”
In 1998, Culliton was appointed a DuPage County associate judge. He was named a full circuit judge two years later and oversaw the misdemeanor criminal division.
“He excelled at being an amazing mentor,” Popejoy said. “And he was a friend to the level of being like my older brother.”
“He was incredibly open-minded, but once he heard both sides and heard fair rebuttals, he made up his mind and he didn’t waffle,” Jorgensen said. “He was refreshingly honest. He would tell you exactly what he thought.”
Culliton left the bench in 2001 to become campaign director and adviser for Ryan’s unsuccessful 2002 bid for governor. Then-Supreme Court Justice Robert Thomas reappointed Culliton to be a DuPage circuit judge in 2002.
“Bob Thomas put him in the civil division, and Steve had a knack for settling cases because he could determine a turning point,” Jorgensen said. “But if a case didn’t settle, he was a master in the courtroom. He knew the law, he knew civil procedure, and litigants knew not to step in front of him unprepared.”
In 2008, the Illinois Supreme Court named Culliton to a three-year term as DuPage’s chief judge.
“It’s a tough job — it’s not a cakewalk — but he made it look easy,” Jorgensen said. “His theme was more education, and higher ethical standards. He always said we are just public servants, and nothing special.”
Culliton also served a year as president of the DuPage County Bar Association in 1980.
“One of his mantras was, work hard, play hard,” Jorgensen said. “That was Steve.”
A first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his daughter, Culliton is survived by his wife of 34 years, Ellen; a son, Stephen; two other daughters, Kristine Bushman and Colleen Stoetzel; three stepdaughters, Julie Gajcak, Carla Champagne and Jacqueline Bradley; a stepson, Joseph Champagne; two brothers, William and Richard; 22 grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
Services were held.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.