John Beirne Tolle

A lifelong resident of Dallas, John Beirne Tolle passed away on January 28, 2024. He was born March 1, 1933, in Dallas to Oscar and Anna Marie Stenson Tolle. He attended Sacred Heart Catholic School followed by Jesuit High School, from which he graduated in 1951. John told stories of a happy childhood growing up in Dallas, particularly the years spent at the family home on Cedar Springs Road. The family had a large plot with woods and a creek, and John spent many happy hours outdoors playing with his brother, sister and kids from the neighborhood. Jesuit was a powerful influence on John, and he made many lifelong friends there. Throughout the years, up until the very end of his life, John got together with a group of classmates from the class of 1951 for a monthly lunch to share stories and have a good time together. John passed on the Jesuit tradition, which was very important to him. His sons, Michael, John and James, and grandsons Oscar and Sebastian, followed him at Jesuit. After high school, John headed up to Indiana to start his next chapter at the University of Notre Dame. During his time there, John was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent two years in post-war divided Europe. He had many stories from his time in Germany, and he remained close to his friends from the Army throughout the rest of his life. He returned to Notre Dame and graduated in 1959. After graduating, John ran his family’s tavern, the Oak Lawn Beverage Inn for a few years, and then decided his true calling lay in the law. He enrolled at Southern Methodist University Law School and graduated in 1966. Toward the end of this time at SMU, he met the love of his life, Marilyn Trautschold. They were married on July 9, 1966, and spent the next 57 1/2 years together. After law school, John spent some time in private law practice, followed by working as an assistant Dallas County district attorney for Henry Wade. In 1979, John was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1998. John was a jurist who believed deeply in fairness and justice. John was a devoted family man and most wonderful husband, father, grandfather, uncle, friend, confidant and general tremendous role model to so many. His family remembers so many great conversations sitting around the table, hearing and learning from John. There are fond memories of family vacations, particularly summer trips to Mo Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, which became a second summer home to the Tolle family. John and Marilyn traveled extensively around the United States, Europe and El Salvador for his son, Michael's, wedding to daughter-in-law Lorena. John and Marilyn spent many happy days and weekends at their beloved lakeside property in East Texas, where John taught his grandkids to fish and continue the love of being outdoors.

John is preceded in death by his brother, Mark, and sister, Martha. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marilyn, his daughter, Anna Marie, and sons Michael (Lorena), John (Rosanna) and James (Julie), as well as grandchildren Charlie, Sebastian, Oscar, Adam, Phillipa and Annelle, his sister Teresa, as well as many nephews, nieces and friends, throughout Dallas and beyond.