J.B. Collier Jr. spent a good portion of his 68 years standing up for justice in Lawrence County.

Collier served as county prosecutor from 1993 to 2012 after having been elected to five four-year terms, more than any other prosecutor in Lawrence County’s history. The well-liked attorney died Thursday after an extended battle with cancer that had ravaged his body, but a fight that friends say did nothing to diminish his wit and sense of humor.

Serving as prosecuting attorney in Ironton and Lawrence County has never been an easy job. It was likely even more difficult during Collier’s tenure because of the explosion of prescription drug abuse, pill mills and an ever-expanding black market.

Yet Collier and his staff did the best they could to ensure that criminals received their due and that justice was served for victims.

By nature, prosecuting attorney is an elected position that creates enemies, yet most who knew Collier will say that he was a good man who treated everyone fairly.

Was he perfect? Of course not. No one is. But he did the best that he could and looked at every situation individually.

J.B. Collier Jr’s legacy and vision for reducing crime in Lawrence County lives on through the many attorneys he worked with, the assistant prosecutors who he helped train and the current prosecutor who he helped groom for the position.

That is the type of lasting impact that continues well after someone has left the mortal world.