William H. Dieterich (judge)

Template:Short description 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.

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.

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)

1948 Wisconsin Attorney General election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election, September 21, 1948
		Donald J. Martin	Template:Replace	36.75%
		William H. Dieterich	104,187	24.84%
		Thomas E. Fairchild	Template:Replace	23.23%
		Frank X. Didier	27,316	6.51%
		Grover L. Broadfoot (incumbent)	26,572	6.34%
		Michael Essin	Template:Replace	1.47%
		Anna Mae Davis	Template:Replace	0.86%
Total votes			'419,424'	'100.0%'
General Election, November 2, 1948
		Thomas E. Fairchild	Template:Replace	50.67%
		Donald J. Martin	583,298	47.49%
		Michael Essin	11,908	0.97%
		Anna Mae Davis	10,641	0.87%
Total votes			'1,228,159'	'100.0%'	+25.88%
	gain from

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1954, 1956, 1958)

1954 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Nonpartisan Primary, March 9, 1954
		Roland J. Steinle (incumbent)	Template:Replace	61.74
		William H. Dieterich	Template:Replace	24.43
		Perry J. Stearns	28,134	13.84
Total votes			203,333	100
General Election, April 6, 1954
		Roland J. Steinle (incumbent)	Template:Replace	59.76
		William H. Dieterich	200,224	40.24
Plurality			97,145	19.52
Total votes			497,593	100

1956 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election, March 6, 1956
		Thomas E. Fairchild	Template:Replace	71.77
		William H. Dieterich	Template:Replace	19.57
		Clair L. Finch	30,244	8.67
Total votes			348,974	100
General Election, April 3, 1956
		Thomas E. Fairchild	Template:Replace	77.59
		William H. Dieterich	165,953	22.41
Total votes			740,382	100

1958 Wisconsin Supreme Court election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, April 1, 1958
		William H. Dieterich	Template:Replace	52.43
		Emmert L. Wingert (incumbent)	211,319	47.57
Total votes			444,274	100	-41.32