Glenn Parker (November 25, 1898 – April 18, 1989) was an American jurist who served as a justice of the

Wyoming Supreme Court The Wyoming Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Wyoming from a list of three nominees submitted by the ...

from December 5, 1955, to January 6, 1975.

Career

Parker was born in

Murray, Iowa Murray is a city in Clarke County, Iowa, United States. The population was 684 at the time of the 2020 census. The mascot is the Murray Mustang. History Murray got its start in the year 1868, following the construction of the Chicago, Burlington ...

, to Charles Theron Parker (1851–1932) and Mary Lavanchie Ball (1873–1958). He grew up with his family on a farm near

Sheridan, Wyoming Sheridan is a town in the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Sheridan County. The town is located halfway between Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore by U.S. Route 14 and 16. It is the principal town of the Sheridan, Wyoming, Micropol ...

. Parker attended the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

where, in 1922, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, and in 1924, a law degree. Between the time he received his bachelor's degree and his return to law school, he taught school in Laramie and Casper. Parker served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in World Wars I and II and rose to the rank of colonel. Parker was admitted to the Wyoming State Bar in 1927 and practiced law in Laramie. In addition to his private practice, he served as city attorney for two years and county attorney for eight years (1932-1940). From 1949 to 1955, he served as a Wyoming state district court judge in the Second Judicial District ( Albany County in Laramie). In 1955, Governor

Milward Simpson Milward Lee Simpson (November 12, 1897June 11, 1993) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming, the first born in the state. In 1985, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the Nati ...

appointed him to the Wyoming Supreme Court to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Chief Justice William Addison Riner (1878–1955). Parker had been endorsed for the position by the Albany,

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

, and Sweetwater County Bar Associations. Parker was chief justice from January 1, 1963, to January 2, 1967, and from January 1, 1973, to January 2, 1975. He was the first graduate of the

University of Wyoming College of Law The University of Wyoming College of Law is the law school of the University of Wyoming and the only law school located in Wyoming. It is situated in the Rocky Mountains in Laramie, Wyoming at 7,165 ft. between the Laramie Mountains and Snowy ...

to become a state district judge and also the first to serve on the Wyoming Supreme Court. After his retirement in 1975, Parker was associated with the Cheyenne law firm, Hirst and Applegate. During his legal career, Parker served as Wyoming chairman of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

's Committee on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and was a member of the

American Judicature Society The American Judicature Society (AJS) is an independent, non-partisan membership organization working nationally to protect the integrity of the American justice system. AJS's membership — including judges, lawyers, and members of the public — ...

and the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...

. He was also a special lecturer-instructor at the University of Wyoming College of Law.

Family

On June 8, 1924, Parker married, Ruth Beggs ( Lila Ruth Beggs; 1893–1971) in Denver (

Weld County Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley. Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Denver ...

). Together, they had two children. After Ruth died, Parker, on October 7, 1972, married Sally Weitz ( Sarah Barbara Joyce; 1913–2016).

Career

Family

Death

Bibliography

Notes

References

See also