r- f Former Bellevillian Lynda Templeton named judge Has worked as teacher, lawyer and for the Crown By Jack Evans The Intelligencer A former Belleville lawyer and teacher will be sworn in as a judge of the Ontario Court (Gener- al Division) in Milton July 2. Lynda Templeton, 45, daughter of Belleville resident Alan Payton, is a graduate of Quinte Secondary School. Her appointment as Madame Justice Templeton follows a var- ied career since graduating high school which has included teach- ing, practising law in both Belleville and Hamilton and act- ing as an assistant Crown attor- ney. For post-secondary education she obtained an honors French degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Education at Queen's Univer- sity, then taught French at both secondary and elementary lev- els in London and Belleville. Still pursuing the academic life, she obtained a Master's degree in French Lynda Templeton from Western in 1981 and in 1984, a law degree, also from Western. Called to the bar in 1986, she practised with the Belleville law firm of Reynolds-Hunter, where she had previously articled until she moved to Hamilton in 1987. She gave up her private prac- tice in Hamilton, where she worked on family law, civil litiga- tion and criminal law, in 1994 to become an assistant Crown attor- ney. She continues to keep track of her many former legal associates and friends and family in Belleville, her father reports. In an interview, Templeton told a Hamilton Spectator reporter she is excited about becoming a judge mainly because she sees it as an opportunity for service to the community. "I come from a family where the absolute bottom line was hon- esty, integrity and giving to oth- ers." Templeton also has a track record of serving on several com- munity organization, boards.