Longtime Salem Judge David T. Doyle Dies

SALEM, MA — David T. Doyle, who served as a Salem District Court judge from 1979 to 1998, has died. he was 90. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving judge in Massachusetts, and a courtroom in the court where he once presided was named for him in 2017.

"As a police officer I appeared in court often in front of Judge Doyle who was always fair and just, compassionate and universally respected," former Salem Police Chief and state Rep. Paul Tucker said in a Facebook post. "A true family man, he will be missed but his legacy will live on with colleagues, family and friends."

Doyle was a lifelong Salem resident who attended the city's schools before going on to Boston University for his undergraduate degree and to Suffolk University for law school. From 1946 to 1948, he served in the U.S. Army in Japan.

He ran a private practice from 1964 to 1978 and from 1998 to 2004. He also served on term on Salem City Council from 1962 to 1964. Before his appointment as judge by Gov. Edward King, Doyle served as a special justice to Salem District Court from 1964 to 1979.

Details of services were not immediately available. Doyle is survived by his wife, Antoinette, of Salem. His daughter, Mary-Alice Doyle, is Deputy First Assistant District Attorney in the office of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. In 2008, she received the William C. O’Malley Prosecutor of the Year Award from the Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office.