PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A memorial service was held Tuesday for former Palm Beach County Judge Mark Eissey, who died last month at the age of 59.
Family, friends, fellow judges and attorneys gathered at the Eissey Campus Theatre – named in honor of his father – at Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens.
Eissey was born and raised in West Palm Beach, attending both the Benjamin School and Cardinal Newman High School before playing college basketball at Belmont University in Tennessee.
WATCH: Family, friends gather to remember Judge Mark Eissey
After graduating from law school at Nova Southeastern University, Eissey spent 17 years as an assistant state attorney in Palm Beach County, eventually becoming a felony division chief.
He was appointed to the bench in 2005 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush, serving as a county court judge for 17 years before suffering complications from a heart attack that forced him to step down in January.
During his time on the bench, Eissey presided over several high-profile trials, including Broward County Judge Cynthia Imperato's 2014 trial for driving under the influence and the 2020 trial of Chinese national Jing Lu, who was acquitted of trespassing at then-President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach but was found guilty of resisting arrest.
In lieu of flowers, Eissey's family asked that donations instead be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or the Salvation Army.