Potter Stewart

He married Mary Ann Bertles in 1943. The couple had three children. He also had several grandchildren and was a doting grandfather.

He died after suffering a stroke in 1985.

Potter Stewart was born to James Garfield Stewart and Harriet Loomis Potter. His father was a lawyer and a prominent Republican who had served as the mayor of Cincinnati.

He went to Hotchkiss School and graduated in 1933.

He attended Yale University where he became the chairman of the ‘Yale Daily News’.

He earned his degree in law from Yale Law School in 1941. There he was an editor of the ‘Yale Law Journal’ and was also a member of Phi Delta Phi.

He joined a firm on Wall Street after graduation though he left to join the U.S. Naval Reserve during the World War II. He attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade and was awarded three battle stars for his services abroad oil tankers.

After his navy stint, he worked in private practice at a big law firm, Dinsmore & Shohl in Cincinnati.

He was elected to the Cincinnati City Council twice during the early 1950s.

In 1954, a vacancy occurred in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and he was appointed to this position.

When Justice of the Supreme Court, Harold Hitz Burton, was to retire, President Dwight Eisenhower nominated Stewart to the Supreme Court in 1959.

As an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, he was primarily known for his moderate viewpoint. He played a vital role in several landmark rulings of the Court and made significant contributions to the criminal justice and civil rights cases