William H. Dieterich (judge)

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honorable

| name = William H. Dieterich

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

|office = Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court

| term_start = January 1, 1959

| term_end = July 23, 1964

| predecessor = Emmert L. Wingert

| successor = Nathan Heffernan

| pronunciation =

|birth_name = William Herbert Dieterich

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|12|18}}

| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|07|23|1897|12|18}}

| death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin

| death_cause =

| restingplace = Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Hartford, Wisconsin

| party = Republican

| spouse = {{unbulleted list

| Kathryn Marie Block

| (died 1990)

}}

| relations =

| children = {{unbulleted list

| William H. Dieterich III

}}

| mother = Martha (Wolf) Dieterich

| father = William V. Dieterich

| relatives =

| residence =

| education =

| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list

| University of Wisconsin–Madison

| Marquette University Law School

}}

| occupation =

| profession = lawyer, judge

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

|allegiance = {{flag|United States|1917}}

|branch = {{flag|United States Army}}

|serviceyears = 1917–1919

|rank =

|commands =

|unit = 120th Field Artillery

|battles = World War I

|mawards =

}}

William Herbert Dieterich (December 18, 1897 – July 23, 1964) was an attorney and jurist from Wisconsin. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1959 until his death in 1964.{{Cite web |date=2017-08-08 |title=Dieterich, William Herbert 1897 |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS7064 |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=Wisconsin Historical Society |language=en}}

Early life

He was born at his father's farm in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He enlisted in the Wisconsin National Guard in 1917 during World War I. He helped found the American Legion.

After the war was over, he went to college at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Montana and later to law school at Marquette University Law School. He passed his bar exam in 1923 to become a lawyer.

Career

He served as a trial attorney in Milwaukee 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 clerks for the Supreme Court.{{Cite web |title=Wisconsin Court System - Justice William H. Dieterich |url=https://www.wicourts.gov/courts/supreme/justices/retired/dieterich.htm |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=www.wicourts.gov}}

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)=

{{Election box begin | title=1948 Wisconsin Attorney General election{{cite report| chapter-url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1950 |title= The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1950 |year= 1950 |editor1-last= Ohm |editor1-first= Howard F. |editor2-last= Kuehn |editor2-first= Hazel L.|chapter= Parties and elections |pages=651, 753 | accessdate= November 23, 2019}}}}

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

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Donald J. Martin

|votes = 154,128

|percentage = 36.75%

|change = }}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = William H. Dieterich

|votes = 104,187

|percentage = 24.84%

|change = }}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Thomas E. Fairchild

|votes = 97,435

|percentage = 23.23%

|change = }}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Frank X. Didier

|votes = 27,316

|percentage = 6.51%

|change = }}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Grover L. Broadfoot (incumbent)

|votes = 26,572

|percentage = 6.34%

|change = }}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Progressive Party (United States, 1948)

|candidate = Michael Essin

|votes = 6,180

|percentage = 1.47%

|change = }}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Socialist Party of America

|candidate = Anna Mae Davis

|votes = 3,606

|percentage = 0.86%

|change = }}

{{Election box total

|votes = 419,424

|percentage = 100.0%

|change =

}}

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

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Thomas E. Fairchild

|votes = 622,312

|percentage = 50.67%

|change = +21.96%}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Donald J. Martin

|votes = 583,298

|percentage = 47.49%

|change = -22.47%}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Progressive Party (United States, 1948)

|candidate = Michael Essin

|votes = 11,908

|percentage = 0.97%

|change = }}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Socialist Party of America

|candidate = Anna Mae Davis

|votes = 10,641

|percentage = 0.87%

|change = -0.46%}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 1,228,159

|percentage = 100.0%

|change = +25.88%

}}

{{Election box gain with party link no swing|

|winner = Democratic Party (United States)

|loser = Republican Party (United States)

}}

=Wisconsin Supreme Court (1954, 1956, 1958)=

{{Election box begin | title=1954 Wisconsin Supreme Court election{{cite report|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1956 |title= The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1956 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |year= 1956 |editor-last1= Toepel |editor-first1= M. G. |editor-last2= Kuehn |editor-first2= Hazel L. |chapter-url= https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1956/reference/wi.wibluebk1956.i0019.pdf |chapter= Parties and Elections: The Judicial and Nonpartisan Elections |page= 757 |accessdate= June 3, 2021 }}}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| Nonpartisan Primary, March 9, 1954

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Roland J. Steinle (incumbent)

|votes = 125,530

|percentage = 61.74

|change =

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = William H. Dieterich

|votes = 49,669

|percentage = 24.43

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Perry J. Stearns

|votes = 28,134

|percentage = 13.84

|change =

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 203,333

|percentage = 100

|change =

}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 6, 1954

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Roland J. Steinle (incumbent)

|votes = 297,369

|percentage = 59.76

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = William H. Dieterich

|votes = 200,224

|percentage = 40.24

|change =

}}

{{Election box plurality

|votes = 97,145

|percentage = 19.52

|change =

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 497,593

|percentage = 100

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin | title=1956 Wisconsin Supreme Court election{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1958 |title= The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1958 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |chapter= Parties and elections: the judicial and nonpartisan elections |year= 1958 |editor1-last= Toepel |editor1-first= M.G. |editor2-last=Kuehn |editor2-first= Hazel L. |pages= 780–781 |accessdate= November 23, 2019 }}}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| Primary Election, March 6, 1956

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Thomas E. Fairchild

|votes = 250,442

|percentage = 71.77

|change = }}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = William H. Dieterich

|votes = 68,288

|percentage = 19.57

|change = }}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Clair L. Finch

|votes = 30,244

|percentage = 8.67

|change = }}

{{Election box total

|votes = 348,974

|percentage = 100

|change =

}}

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

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Thomas E. Fairchild

|votes = 574,429

|percentage = 77.59

|change = }}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = William H. Dieterich

|votes = 165,953

|percentage = 22.41

|change = }}

{{Election box total

|votes = 740,382

|percentage = 100

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin | title=1958 Wisconsin Supreme Court election{{cite report|chapter-url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1960 |title= The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1960 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |chapter= Wisconsin state party platforms and elections |year= 1960 |editor1-last= Toepel |editor1-first= M.G. |editor2-last=Kuehn |editor2-first= Hazel L. |page= 701 |accessdate= November 23, 2019 }}}}

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

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = William H. Dieterich

|votes = 232,955

|percentage = 52.43

|change = +30.02%}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Emmert L. Wingert (incumbent)

|votes = 211,319

|percentage = 47.57