William John Keefe

Personal

Birthday: 
11/17/1873
Birthplace: 
Clinton, IA
Date of Death: 
9/14/1955
Place of Death: 
Bronxville, NY
Race or Ethnicity: 
White
Gender: 
Male
Prior Employment: 

Private practice, Clinton, Iowa, 1895-1902, 1910-1933
County attorney, Clinton County, Iowa, 1902-1910

Education

Name of School: 

University of Iowa College of Law

The highly competitive practice of law has a way of shaping a person. If you let it, it can and it will make you into a thing;...That thing the practice of law would make of you is ultimately what becomes of the once passionate, once idealistic, once hopeful, would-be world changer, who has become eroded by the routine, battering current of the practice, and who has failed to cultivate the ground cover that resists erosion of soul." For those of us in the world of work, whether as lawyers or not, tending to that initial force that drew us toward the study of law should be part of our thoughts and periodic reflections.

Degree: 
LL.B.
Degree Year: 
1894

Judicial Career

Court Name: 
U. S. Customs Court
President Nominating: 
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party Affiliation of President: 
Democratic
Commission Date: 
6/13/1933
Termination Date: 
1/15/1947
Termination Reason: 
Retirement