Hennepin County District Court Judge Steven Pihlaja

Hennepin County District Court Judge Steven Pihlaja died of a heart attack. Pihlaja had been battling bladder cancer since spring.

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: September 17, 2008 - 11:39 PM

Hennepin County District Court Judge Steven Pihlaja, who had a long career as a criminal lawyer before he was appointed to the bench, died Wednesday morning of a heart attack.

Pihlaja, a skilled and fit canoeist, appeared to be doing well in his fight with bladder cancer discovered in the spring, said his long-time friend Jim Ostgard, a criminal defense lawyer who met the judge in law school. But the judge developed a blood complication, possibly related to the treatment, and suffered a heart attack at the hospital. "This was a shock," Ostgard said.

Pihlaja's friends in and outside the courthouse say the same things: he was a generous host who was gracious with others and gregarious but didn't need to be the center of attention.

"Steve was just a prince of a guy. He asked for very little from his colleagues except their company," said Hennepin County District Jude Margaret Daly.

In the courtroom, Pihlaja was a calm presence even during grueling cases. Most recently, he presided in the trial of two Iowa brothers accused of beating up a police officer on Block E. The case resulted in a hung jury after a hard-fought trial with four scrappy lawyers.

Public defender Barbara Kehrberg said Pihlaja respected lawyers and defendants who appeared before him. "He didn't act as though just because he wore a black robe, he had all the answers. He maintained his human touch," she said.

As Pihlaja needed time off for his illness, Daly would attempt to reschedule some of his cases with other judges. But often, she said, lawyers for both sides would say, "No, no. We'll wait for Judge Pihlaja to come back" because they liked to him so much.

Pihlaja, 56, was married to Lorrie Stromme, his high school sweetheart and former law partner who is now an aide to City Council Member Paul Ostrow. The couple have a home in northeast Minneapolis and a cabin near Hayward, Wis.

Ostgard said the judge liked to go to Chicago for the Jazz Festival, sample single-malt Scotch and read Robert W. Service poetry. He was a word-play aficionado. "We loved him despite that," Ostgard said.

The judge enjoyed playing host. "He used to barbecue outrageous amounts of meat. Even if we had a dozen people over there would be far too much meat of various sorts," Ostgard said.

Appointed to the bench in 2002 by Gov. Jesse Ventura, Pihlaja was elected in 2004. He was a 1979 graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law and a 1975 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Pihlaja spent most of his youth in Duluth.

He worked as a solo practitioner of criminal law for much of his career or with Stromme. He chaired the criminal law section of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

Daly called Pihlaja "an example to all of us' because he took tough cases without complaint, volunteered his time and never asked for recognition.

"I don't think I have ever heard a negative word said about him and in Hennepin High that's really saying something," Daly said, using the nickname insiders occasionally use to derisively describe the stressful, close-knit atmosphere among those who work at the government center.

Since 2004, he organized the Everybody Wins! program in which judges read on Wednesday with third and fourth graders at the W. Harry Davis Academy in north Minneapolis. He recruited volunteers and worked with teachers and administrators.

Services were pending.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

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