Alfred E. Woodward

Infobox Person
name = Alfred E. Woodward II


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = Birth date|1913|12|15|mf=y
birth_place = Illinois
death_date = death date and age|2007|2|20|1913|12|15|mf=y
death_place = Illinois
occupation = Judge
relatives = Malcolm C. Woodward (1895-1992), brother
John S. Woodward (1903-1990), brother
spouse = Jane Upshur
Alice Elizabeth Ensko (1924-1999)
parents = Alfred E. Woodward I (1870-?)
children = Robert Upshur Woodward

Alfred E. Woodward II (December 15, 1913 – February 20, 2007) was the Chief Judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit Court, DuPage County, Illinois from 1973 to 1975, and the father of reporter and author Bob Woodward. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Alfred E. Woodward |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3731616.html |quote=Alfred E. Woodward spoke quietly, but persuasively enough to charm juries for 56 years, say his colleagues. The prominent Wheaton attorney also served as a DuPage County Circuit Court judge and as an Illinois Appellate Court justice. Mr. Woodward, 93, died Tuesday in Wheaton. He was the father of journalist Bob Woodward, one of the Washington Post reporters who uncovered the Watergate scandal. Former U.S. Rep. Harris Fawell said he found Mr. Woodward an "excellent man in every way" from the first time they met in the DuPage County state's attorney's office in the 1950s. "He was a person who spoke quietly and relatively slowly -- he wasn't rapid-fire, ... |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |date= |accessdate=2008-04-18 ]

Birth and siblings

Alfred was the son of Alfred E. Woodward I (1870-1936), and Mabel (Coleman) (1873-1952). Mabel and Alfred had the following other children: Malcolm C. Woodward (1895-1992); and John S. Woodward (1903-1990) who was a lawyer. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=John S. Woodward |url= |quote=John S. Woodward, 87, a Wheaton lawyer for more than 50 years, died Wednesday at Windsor Park Manor, a medical facility in Carol Stream. He is the brother of Illinois Appellate Judge Alfred E. Woodward. In 1935, he was a founding partner of the law firm of Rathje and Woodward. Today, the firm is known as Rathje, Woodward, Dyer and Burt at 203 E. Liberty, Wheaton. Mr. Woodward practiced civil law until he retired 10 years ago. The Sandwich, Illinois, native graduated from Northwestern ... |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |date=October 6, 1990 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ] Alfred Woodward I, worked at the Sandwich Manufacturing Company.

College

Alfred Woodward II, went to Oberlin College in Ohio on a football scholarship in 1931 where he majored in political science. In 1934 he was captain of the college football team, and he graduated in 1935. After graduation he attended Northwestern University School of Law where he graduated in 1938.

Early years

After getting his law degree, Alfred moved to Wheaton, Illinois, where he joined his brother, John, who operated a law partnership. Alfred married Jane Barnes around 1940 then joined the United States Navy with the rank of Ensign, and served in the Pacific Theatre as a communications officer. He married Jane Upshur and had a son: Robert Upshur Woodward in 1943. Alfred was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1945. He was discharged from the Navy in January 1946, and he went home to Wheaton and joined his brother's law firm. Later after a divorce, Alfred would marry Alice Elizabeth Ensko (1924-1999). cite web |url=http://www.dcba.org/brief/febissue/1998/feature.htm |title=The DuPage County Bar Association: Alfred Woodward |accessdate=2007-08-26 |quote=On December 4, 1994, another chapter in the long career of judge and attorney Alfred E. Woodward came to a close. On that day, Judge Woodward retired, for the second time, from the Second District, Appellate Court, where he had served since 1986. |publisher=S. Louis Rathje ]

Legal career

In 1950, Alfred became a full partner in his brother's law firm of Rathje and Woodward. He later served as President of the DuPage County Bar Association starting in 1956. In 1967, he was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers. He became a judge on the Eighteenth Circuit in 1970, and was Chief judge from 1973 to 1975. He left the Eighteenth in 1977 and was appointed to the Second District Appellate Court.

Alfred Woodward retired from the bench at age 81 in 1994. The Second District Appellate Court then appointed him to serve as that Court's representative on the Agency's Board of Commissioners in June 1996. He is also a fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation.

Death

Woodward died of congestive heart failure on February 20, 2007. He had been hospitalized with Alzheimer's for several years. Alfred was buried in Wheaton Cemetery [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Watergate sleuth's dad dead at age 93. |url= |quote= Congestive heart failure on Feb. 20 took the life of prominent Wheaton attorney Alfred E. Woodward, 93, former DuPage County and Illinois Appellate Court ... |publisher=Naperville Sun |date= |accessdate=2008-04-18 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Alfred E. Woodward |url= |quote=The funeral service for Retired Illinois Appellate Judge Alfred E. Woodward, 93, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 23, at First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton, Jefferson Street west of Ellis. Interment will follow in Wheaton Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 until 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22 at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Road (one block east of Naperville Road), Wheaton. Born, Dec. 15, 1913, in Sandwich, Ill., where he was also raised, he died... |publisher=Daily Herald |date=February 22, 2007 |accessdate=2008-04-18 ]

References