Walter Urbigkit Explained

Walter Urbigkit
Office:Chief Justice of Wyoming
Term Start:1992
Term End:1993
Appointer:Edgar J. Herschler
Successor:Richard J. Macy
Birth Date:November 9, 1927
Birth Place:Fremont County, Wyoming, U.S.
Death Date:[1]
Death Place:Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.
Education:University of Wyoming (BA)
University of Wyoming College of Law (JD)
Relatives:Ralph Urbigkit (brother)
Dale Urbigkit (nephew)

Walter C. Urbigkit Jr. (November 9, 1927 October 31, 2011) was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives for Laramie, Wyoming, as a Democrat from 1973 to 1985, including two years as minority leader, and later a justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court from November 1, 1985, to January 1993, serving as chief justice from 1991 to 1993.[2] Urbigkit lost his bid for a second term in a retention election in November 1992.[3] In 1987, Urbigkit was credited by the New York Times for advancing the use of the word "conclusory" in jurisprudence.[4]

Born in Burris, Wyoming to Walter C. and Bertha (Miller) Urbigkit, he graduated from Fremont County Vocational High School in 1945,[5] and then received a B.A. from the University of Wyoming in 1949; he won the university's Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award in 1992.[6] He received a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1951, and served in the United States Army during the Korean War.[5] He then served as an attorney in the United States Veterans Administration from 1953 to 1955, when he left government to open a private law practice in Cheyenne.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Walter Urbigkit 1927-2011. 8 June 2015. Wyoming Tribune Eagle. 2 November 2011.
  2. http://www.fcsd1.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=1737&PHPSESSID=b9b8e76f17e59be25f96be04b60ad7fe Alumni Hall of Fame information
  3. http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?61+Law+&+Contemp.+Probs.+127+(Summer+1998) Duke Law & Contemporary Problems
  4. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE4DE123DF930A2575BC0A961948260 New York Times
  5. https://wyomingstatearchives.wikispaces.com/Walter+C.+Urbigkit%2C+Jr. Wyoming State Archives page on Walter C. Urbigkit, Jr.
  6. http://www.wyoalumni.com/distinguishedAlumniPast.html University of Wyoming Alumni Association