William Herbert Dieterich (December 18, 1897 – July 23, 1964) was an attorney and jurist from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He was a justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

from 1959 until his death in 1964.William Dietrich, Wisconsin Historical Society
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Early life

He was born at his father's farm in

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

. He enlisted in the

Wisconsin National Guard The Wisconsin National Guard consists of the Wisconsin Army National Guard and the Wisconsin Air National Guard. It is a part of the Government of Wisconsin under the control of the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs. The Wisconsin Natio ...

in 1917 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He helped found the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

. After the war was over, he went to college at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

and the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

and later to law school at

Marquette University Law School Marquette University Law School is the professional graduate law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Milwaukee Law ...

. He passed his bar exam in 1923 to become a lawyer.

Career

He served as a trial attorney in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

and Washington Counties for 36 years. He lost several elections for Wisconsin's Attorney General and Wisconsin Supreme Court. Dieterich was first elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1958, when he defeated Emmert L. Wingert in 1958 to become a Justice. In 1961, he convinced the Wisconsin Legislature to employ

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

s for the Supreme Court.Wisconsin Court System
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Personal life

He had a son William H. Dieterich III with his wife Kathryn Block. Dieterich died on July 23, 1964.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Attorney General (1948)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 21, 1948 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1948

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1956, 1958)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, March 6, 1956 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 1956 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1, 1958

Notes

1897 births 1964 deaths Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court People from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin University of Montana alumni Marquette University Law School alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 20th-century American judges Military personnel from Wisconsin Wisconsin National Guard personnel United States Army personnel of World War I {{Wisconsin-stub