N. Judge King, 78, a scientist, educator, pilot and entrepreneur known for his prickly wit and broad generosity, died May 26, in Minneapolis, after suffering from lung cancer.
Reatha Clark King, his wife of 52 years, was at his side.
"Judge was special not just because of his gifts in teaching and science," said Clark King, retired president of Metro State University and former president and chair of the General Mills Foundation. "He was a loyal, faithful and very kind man who always helped wherever he could."
King, who was active in civil rights efforts, came of age in an era when those who succeeded gave of themselves freely to others in need. He also believed firmly in the theory of "blooming where you're planted."
"In the decades where I saw Judge in many different situations, he always represented the kind of manhood my generation grew up with and so appreciate," said civil rights pioneer Josie Johnson. "He was gentle and genteel, patient, scholarly, warm and brilliant. Judge was an ideal role model."
Born May 14, 1936, in Birmingham, Ala., Napoleon Judge King was the fourth of five children in a household headed by a principal and a schoolteacher. His early years were spent in the "colored" schools of Birmingham, a city with a history of virulent racial violence.
"I never saw a new book until I went away to college," he once said.
After graduating from Parker High School, King studied chemistry and math at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He continued his education at Clark Atlanta University, from which he received a master's degree in chemistry, and Howard University, where he earned his doctorate in physical organic chemistry. He also earned an MBA at Hofstra University.
