Factiva

Rodham T. Delk Sr. remembers when Isle of Wight County boasted four lawyers and the Code of Virginia spanned two volumes.

That was in 1942, when Delk returned to his native Smithfield to join the practice of A.E.S. Stephens, a member of the General Assembly who became lieutenant governor.

More than a half-century later, Delk counts 14 lawyers in the county's bar association and the number of volumes of the Code of Virginia has grown about tenfold.

Delk, 78, still works in the law practice on Main Street he shares with his son, Rodham T. Delk Jr.

"I come in the office every day in the morning," he said. "I reserve the afternoons for myself."

Delk lists almost 50 years of service to the town, county and state. He has been commissioner of accounts for Isle of Wight's circuit court since 1956.

He served on Smithfield Town Council for 12 years, from 1948-60, including four years as mayor of the town famous for its hams.

"I don't think the town had more than 1,000 residents when I was on council," he said. Today's population is about 4,700.

In 1960, Delk became town attorney, a job he held for about 10 years and one now occupied by his son.

He also served two terms in the 1960s on what's now the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and he was founding president of the Isle of Wight County Bar Association in the 1970s.

When Delk was a child, his family moved from Smithfield to Fairfax County, where they lived on a dairy farm in Great Falls.

"You could hear the roar of the falls" from the farm, he said.

As a child on family trips to Smithfield, Delk remembers taking a boat from Washington to Norfolk, and then taking another boat to the town. Bad roads made travel by car difficult.

Later, his family moved to the northeast section of Washington.

Delk became interested in the law while working in the office of the general counsel in the U.S. Treasury Department and earned his law degree from Southeastern University in Washington.

Stephens -- married to a first cousin of Delk's -- encouraged Delk to return to his hometown and join his firm. Stephens had been a member of the House of Delegates but became a state senator shortly before Delk arrived.

Delk was offered a judgeship in the mid-1950s, but turned it down to stay with his partner. Stephens, who served in the state's No. 2 job from 1953 to 1961, made an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid in 1961.

Stephens retired from their practice in 1971, and Delk's son joined the firm. A previous law partner is William K. Barlow, who represents Smithfield in the House of Delegates.

Delk marveled at how technologically different law offices are today than when he first began practicing law.

"I had the first dictaphone in town," Delk said.

Delk will celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary this year.

Delk and his wife, the former Evelyn Campbell, were married in 1943 at Saint Luke's Church outside of Smithfield. Delk met his wife, who was the county nurse, when they were living in rooms at what's now the Smithfield Inn.

Besides their son, they have a daughter, Margaret Moore, who lives in Newport News. The Delks have six grandchildren, ranging from a freshman at Princeton University to a 5-year-old.

"I want to keep going," Delk said. "I don't want to sit."

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