Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992 TAG: 9201160346
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Long
PARTNERS AT HOME, OFFICE AND AT THE COURTHOUSE
Marilyn Montgomery, co-owner of a farm supply business and trucking company, turned up in Bedford County Circuit Court one afternoon in 1981 with business on her mind.She had been considering buying into a Bedford travel agency when she heard that its owner was to stand trial on charges of fraud.
Montgomery sat near her travel agent friend as Bedford County's prosecutor won the case and sent her potential partner-to-be to jail.
"I was on [the travel agent's] side," she said. "I didn't think she was guilty - well, I didn't want her to be.
"I sat with her and everything."
That was the last time Marilyn Montgomery sat on the defendant's side of any Bedford County courtroom.
Naturally, she didn't end up buying into the travel agency, but the day in court wasn't a complete waste. She did meet the man who eventually would become her husband, Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney James Updike.
In the years since then, the two have been partners not only at home, but at the office. For the past decade, Marilyn Updike has worked - without pay - on everything from clerical tasks to murder trials in her husband's office.
"I haven't had a jury trial without her in so long," James Updike said recently. "Sometimes I think I wouldn't be able to try one anymore without her help."
Marilyn Updike was born 45 years ago in Rocky Mount to parents of the Old German Baptist faith.
As she grew up, Updike did not hold onto her parents' religious beliefs or their life of dairy farming.
What she did adopt was their work ethic.
Updike can remember rising before dawn by the age of 4 to do chores in the barn.
At that age, she would climb up on a stool to wash the milkers or carry a bucket with just a layer of milk at the bottom. It was all she could lift.
"My parents taught me to work and I'm not afraid of work," she said. "I like work."
And she was ambitious.
Updike went to Franklin County High School, married her first husband at 16, and had two children.
They searched for the good life in the world of business.
Over the years, they successfully managed a trucking company, a farm supply business and rental properties in Roanoke and Rocky Mount.
When her first marriage ended after 19 years, she left the couple's joint businesses behind.
Her work ethic remained the same, though. It just made a change of venue.
After she started dating James Updike, she did not opt to spend her days "shopping or getting my nails done."
"I'm not a person who's going to do that," Marilyn Updike said. "I'm a person to work.
"And his career is my career, the way I look at it."
Marilyn Updike began working with James Updike in 1982.
They married in 1985.
It was 8:30 a.m. on a Monday in July when the pair headed down two flights of stairs to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations courtroom.
Judge James Farmer and the late Judge Raymond Minnix presided over the no-frills wedding before the Updikes headed back up to the office for some champagne and cake.
From there, they went off to an annual state meeting of commonwealth's attorneys.
If there's a big case in Bedford County, finding Marilyn Updike is a cinch.
She's certain to be seated in the first bench behind the prosecution table right at the edge of the row.
"It's close to get out and it's close to Jim," Marilyn Updike says.
From her spot, Marilyn Updike stands ready to help her husband when he needs a code book or a forgotten piece of evidence.
She also takes notes as juries are picked. She usually researches the jury lists in advance and offers her husband advice about whom to pick.
And usually, the victim in the case or members of the family of the victim sit next to her - often seeking her comfort.
"I get emotionally involved with them," Marilyn Updike said. "I try to give them some support and make them comfortable and answer any questions that they have.
"In most all the cases we've had, the family stays in touch with me afterward," she said.
She usually has read just about everything about a case that her husband has read.
That way, the couple can discuss it. In the midst of a big case, they sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and talk about issues for hours.
"She's a tremendous help to me," James Updike said. "She's gained quite a bit of experience through all the cases, but also she can bring the perspective of a lay person."
Marilyn Updike admits that she works hard, but describes her husband as a "workaholic."
Most of the time, he's a pleasure to work with, she said. Once in while, they argue.
"It does happen," she said. "It only happens when we're physically and mentally exhausted - when we've been working day and night."
When there's not a trial going on, Marilyn Updike answers phones, makes copies and takes questions. When the office is shorthanded, Marilyn Updike works full time every day.
Most of the time, it doesn't bother her that she doesn't get a paycheck.
"I'm just really proud of him.
"That's one reason I'm up here," she said. "I really want him to be the best he can be. If I can help him to be that," it's worth it.
Gossip that James Updike could seek a higher elected office - say, the House of Delegates or attorney general - doesn't trouble Marilyn Updike.
"I would like him to seek another elected office if that's what he wants," she said.
If he chooses to do that, she said, she'll be there to help out.
"I am what he is," she said. "We make a good team."
Keywords:
PROFILE