James Emmett Strunck (January 4, 1910 – May 8. 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. Strunck was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He went to the Chicago parochial schools. Strunck served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, as a pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. and in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He served in the Illinois Air National Guard and was commissioned a colonel. Strunck received his bachelor's degree from

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1948 and his law degree from

Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

in 1950. Strunck was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1950. Strunck served as an assistant general counsel for the City of Chicago from 1953 to 1970. Strunck served in the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

from 1953 to 1963 and was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Strunck served in the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1969–1970. In 1971, Strunck served as an associate judge for

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, in 1970, and as a circuit court judge for Cook County from 1971 until his retirement in 1984. He died at

Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Northwestern Medicine and the primary ...

in Chicago, Illinois after suffering from a long illness.'Ex-Circuit Court Judge James Strunck, 68,' Chicago Tribune, Kenan Heise, May 8, 1866

Notes

1920 births 1988 deaths Lawyers from Chicago Politicians from Chicago Illinois National Guard personnel University of Illinois alumni Chicago-Kent College of Law alumni Illinois state court judges Democratic Party Illinois state senators United States Army Air Forces pilots 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War Members of Illinois constitutional conventions 20th-century Illinois politicians {{Illinois-statesenator-stub