Robert D. Sundby (October 21, 1925December 12, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist. He was a judge of the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

in the

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

-based District IV for ten years (1986–1996).

Early life and education

Born in the rural town of

Dunkirk, Wisconsin The Town of Dunkirk is located in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,053 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Hanerville, which was named for James Haner, who had moved from Easton, New York in 1844, is loc ...

, just south of Stoughton, Sundby was raised on a small farm and graduated from

Stoughton High School Stoughton High School (SHS) is a public high school the town of Stoughton, Massachusetts, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12 and is a part of Stoughton Public Schools. It has an average of 300 students per grade level. It is lo ...

in 1943. He enrolled in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

V-12 Navy College Training Program The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...

, designed to supplement the Navy's commissioned officer corps. Through the V-12 program, Sundby was educated at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign 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 Universit ...

College of Engineering and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He graduated from the program October 30, 1945, received his commission as an ensign, and was sent to

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB Coronado) is a US naval installation located across the bay from San Diego, California. The base, situated on the Silver Strand, between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major Navy shore command, sup ...

for

amphibious warfare Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

training. Following his training, he was assigned to

Naval Station Great Lakes Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only recruit training, boot camp, located near North Chicago, Illinois, North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit ...

, but, with

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 ...

now over, Ensign Sundby was soon sent home and placed on inactive reserve. Returning to Wisconsin, Sundby immediately entered the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he graduated in 1949.

Legal career

As general counsel for the League of Wisconsin Municipalities from 1950 to 1960, he gained expertise in municipal law and drafted much related legislation. Throughout the years 1960 to 1986 he was an associate and partner in the Madison law firm now known as DeWitt LLP, though at the time rotated through several names. At the time of his departure to the Appeals Court in 1986, it was DeWitt, Sundby, Huggett, Schumacher & Morgan. Sundby also served as City Attorney of

Monona, Wisconsin Monona is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of the state capital, Madison, the city lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Monona, from which the city gets its name. The population was 8,624 at the 2020 census. History Ori ...

, from 1970 to 1981, and of Evansville, Wisconsin, from 1975 to 1985.

Judicial career

When a new seat was created in District IV of the

, Sundby decided to run. In what, at the time, was considered a stunning upset, he defeated veteran Dane County Judge P. Charles Jones in the April election. He was subsequently re-elected without opposition in 1991. In 1996, Judge Sundby announced his plans to retire at the end of the 1995–1996 court term.

Personal life and family

Sundby was married three times. He married his first wife, Beverly Hocking, of Janesville, Wisconsin, in October 1946, shortly after returning from Naval duty. Sundby later married MaryAnn Ostrander, with whom he had four children: Michael, Dana, Scott, and Debra. His second marriage ended in divorce. In 1989, he married Analee "Casey" Grove, becoming step-father to Richard and Jim Grove. He died of cancer in December 1997, 18 months after retiring from the judiciary.

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April, 1986

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundby, Robert People from Dunkirk, Wisconsin People from Evansville, Wisconsin Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin lawyers Military personnel from Wisconsin United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Wisconsin Law School alumni 1997 deaths 1925 births 20th-century American judges People from Monona, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin Law School faculty 20th-century American lawyers United States Navy officers United States Navy reservists Deaths from cancer in Wisconsin Grainger College of Engineering alumni University of Texas alumni