Alvin C. Strutz (May 5, 1903 – June 16, 1973) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He served as the

North Dakota attorney general The North Dakota Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the North Dakota state government. The Attorney General's office represents the state government in court cases and issues opinions of points of law upon request. Drew Wrigley was appo ...

from 1937 to 1944 and ran for governor of North Dakota in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

. He served as chief justice of the

North Dakota Supreme Court The North Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court of law in the state of North Dakota. The Court rules on questions of law in appeals from the state's district courts. Each of the five justices are elected on a no-party ballot for ten year te ...

in 1967 and from 1971 to 1973, and as a justice of the court from 1959 through 1974. He died while serving on the court at the age of 70 in 1973 after serving for 14 years.

Biography

Alvin Strutz was born on May 5, 1903, in

Milbank Milbank LLP (commonly known as Milbank) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. It also has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Beijing. Hi ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. the son of Rev. and Mrs. R. E. Strutz of Jamestown, North Dakota. He attended the public

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in Jamestown, graduating from Jamestown High School in 1921. He graduated from Jamestown College in 1925 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

. He spent two years after his graduation as a high school teacher, and entered law school at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

in 1927, graduating in 1930 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. He practiced law in Jamestown from 1930 until April 1933 when he moved his practice to Bismarck, North Dakota. In December 1937, Sturtz was appointed by the governor as

attorney general of North Dakota The North Dakota Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the North Dakota state government. The Attorney General's office represents the state government in court cases and issues opinions of points of law upon request. Drew Wrigley was appo ...

upon the resignation of Peter O. Sathre (who had been appointed to the

). He served in that capacity until 1944 when he did not seek re-election.North Dakota Blue Book, 1942 He was elected to a full term in 1938 and reelected in 1940 and 1942. In

, instead of seeking reelection, Sturtz unsuccessfully ran for governor of North Dakota. After leaving office as attorney general, Sturtz practiced law in Bismarck until being appointed to the North Dakota Supreme Court. In 1967, Strutz was appointed to the North Dakota Supreme Court effective April 11, 1959, to the seat vacated by the

death in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The death ...

Nels Johnson Nels Johnson (1838–1915) was a Danish-American professional mechanic and engineer. Johnson died in Manistee on January 20, 1915 at the age of 76. References Sources * * * Further reading * Johnson autobiography 1914History of the Lif ...

. He served until his own death in office at the age of 70 on June 16, 1975. During his tenure on the court, he served as the chief justice twice: in 1967 and again from 1971 to 1973. Strutz was married to Vee Minor on August 28, 1930, in Riceville, Iowa. They had three children; William, Donna Vee and Judith Ann.

Notes

External links

Alvin C. Strutz biographyNorth Dakota Supreme Court official website
1903 births 1973 deaths North Dakota Attorneys General University of North Dakota alumni Chief Justices of the North Dakota Supreme Court People from Jamestown, North Dakota Politicians from Bismarck, North Dakota 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges {{NorthDakota-state-judge-stub