In November, U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter came to Providence to help culminate a yearlong centennial celebration for the federal courthouse in Kennedy Plaza.

You might not have noticed.

True to his nature, Souter made no public speeches. During a ceremony, he declined to sit on the bench alongside other judges. And he even declined to venture outside the courthouse for lunch.

Souter further adhered to his spare, reticent style when he wrote a two-sentence letter to President Obama on May 1, saying: “When the Supreme Court rises for the summer recess this year, I intend to retire from regular active service as a Justice under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. (Section) 371(b)(1).”

Souter, 69, is a Massachusetts native and former New Hampshire Supreme Court justice and attorney general who will long be remembered as a New England original.

The Rhode Island State Police superintendent, Col. Brendan P. Doherty, has a framed photo of himself with Souter at the courthouse centennial event. “I thought I’d be meeting him for a second and he’d move on, but he seemed to have a real interest in talking about the Rhode Island State Police,” Doherty recalled. When he was attorney general, Souter had come to know Col. Walter E. Stone, who headed the state police for 29 years.

“He seemed very relaxed, very unassuming,” Doherty said. “He reminded me of the old saying: ‘It’s nice to be important but more important to be nice.’ I wish him well. I read where he’s always missed New England.”

Senior Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya, the only Rhode Islander on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, served with Souter during Souter’s brief stint on the appeals court in 1990.

“I really think he is an original,” Selya said. “He is an intellectual. He’s at his most comfortable with books. Solitude does not frighten him.” Yet, Souter “is very good with people. He has a charming personality, and he’s a wonderful storyteller,” he said.

Selya recalled Souter was totally uninterested in what furnishings would go in his office. “He is not interested in any of the trappings of his office,” he said. “For the most part, he won’t accept speaking engagements. He is not interested in Washington society as such.”

Selya said Souter accepted his invitation to attend November’s centennial ceremony — on the condition that he would not be expected to give a speech. Souter also declined an invitation to sit on the bench with other judges. “I tried to shame him into it, saying, ‘You are my friend, and if you are not going to sit on the bench, neither am I,’ ” Selya recalled. “And he said, ‘Fine.’ If you remember, he and I sat in the jury box.”

Souter even declined to attend a small luncheon with other federal judges, saying he liked them all very much but valued his privacy. So Selya suggested the two of them go out for a salad, but Souter said he’d just as soon stay in Selya’s office and eat his customary lunch — nonfat yogurt.

“I’m not exactly the nonfat yogurt type,” Selya said. But he accommodated his guest, and they ate at his desk. While Selya went with the peach yogurt, Souter chose the plain. Selya said he took the liberty of ordering some fresh berries, which Souter considered “very extravagant.”

Selya said Souter intends to sit on the 1st Circuit from time to time. And perhaps Souter will find more fresh berries along his future path. According to the Atlantic magazine, Souter recently said there is no good hiking south of Massachusetts, and he described a dream he’s had each night since deciding to retire: He is standing atop New Hampshire’s highest peak, above the tree line, looking down a path that winds away into the distance.

efitzpat@projo.com