Photo Provided Belmont County Western Division Court Judge Eric Costine, right, stands in downtown St. Clairsville with his late father John O. Costine.

MARTINS FERRY — As Father’s Day arrives, we take this time to spend with our loved ones as well as to remember our loved ones who are no longer with us.

Belmont County Western Division Court Judge Eric Costine recently reminisced about his father, John O. Costine, who died in March.

“As we approach the holiday, it hits me that this will be my first Father’s Day without this man in my life. I am saddened by this, but really he is still here,” the judge said. “All the memories are so fresh that I frequently think that he is just across the hallway at the office, sitting in his chair or giving his office tour to some lucky person of all the memorabilia that he collected. I will miss not picking him up at his house and driving him to my house for a cookout with the family and then driving him home after we eat. I’ll miss his stories and his wisdom.”

John O. Costine was Ohio’s longest continuously practicing attorney and died at 100 years old.

Like his father, Eric joined the Costine Law Firm in 1985 after his older brother, Mark, joined the firm five years earlier.

Like their father and grandfather, both Eric and Mark attended Ohio Northern University, making them the third generation of Costines to study at the school.

“My relationship with my father was a father-son relationship as well as a business partner relationship. This did not make it more complicated and probably better,” Eric said.

“Most sons don’t spend as much time with their fathers as I was able to do. I was able to for a couple of reasons. My father did not retire like a normal person would do. He worked at the office every day until he was 100 years old. So I got all those extra years to be near and around him five days a week.”

He added that he believes he probably spent more time with his dad than he does with his wife.

“I suppose I got to know him very well and he got to know me in the same manner,” he added.

Mark left the firm in 1998 to be a probate court judge, but Eric stayed with his father at the law office.

“When he died, he and I had been together for 40 years. I am fortunate for all this time with him. He was an honest and fair man. He had the respect of the entire community because of his humble demeanor and reputation of being a snappy dresser,” Eric said.

He said he believes that over the entire time they worked together, he doesn’t think they ever had a disagreement. He added that he thinks their two personalities were such that they were able to avoid conflict.

“I respected him very much. I valued his opinion, even when it was different from mine. I think that he felt the same way about me. I’m sure that when I was young, he probably saw a person that had a lot of growing up and learning to do,” Eric said. “I’m certain that being around him formed the type of person that I am today. I do like to think that I am a lot like him — a patient and kind person. That’s what my dad was.”

He noted that as lawyers, the pair developed a mutual respect for the law.

“What lawyers do is to understand how the law filters through our lives and how to instruct clients what path is the best for them to take. Dad was one of those persons that I went to as a young lawyer so that I could grapple with learning the law. At first it was much more one sided, me learning and him teaching. Of course that changed over the years, and what it turned into was both of us learning — not teaching, but learning, because that’s what happens with the law. There is always something else to learn,” Eric said. “The learning never stops. This also changed, however, as dad got older he became forgetful. I can remember times that he came to me and would ask me questions that I know he knew. It was sad to see this. This is the sadness that every child goes through with aging parents.”