M E E T
T H E
J U D G E S
by Lyndsey E. Siara – Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
Continued from page 18
visit, after spending time with her, I have no
doubt she would have invited me regardless and
welcomed me with a signature warm hug.
Warmth. That is the primary adjective to
describe Judge Tesche Arkin’s personality and
the feeling she elicits from others. It was certainly
the environment she created during our time
together as we sipped an herbal blend, chatted,
and gazed out into her backyard.
Overlooking the Hillsborough River, her
backyard is an oasis of banana trees and
Judge Caroline Tesche Arkin
butterfly gardens, along with a band stage and
and her husband Steve
a large bird aviary built by a dear friend. You
before dog sledding
shouldn’t be surprised to learn then that
gardening is her favorite hobby. After her family
and the law (more on those later), her backyard is a true
and her maternal grandparents were lima bean growers
love. It shows. The passion was born after her parents
in southern California). She chose pumpkins, and
encouraged teenaged Caroline to grow something. She
realized she enjoyed watching them grow. Now she
tapped into her ancestral agricultural roots (her dad’s
Continued on page 20
family ran a walnut farm in what is now Silicon Valley,
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