County’s longest-tenured judge remembered for life of service

Warren A. Grady was Ozaukee County’s longest-tenured judge, serving for 32 years starting in 1962 and ending with his retirement in 1994.

It was the culmination of a life of service that began when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and continued after he completed law school and  served as Port Washington city attorney, as a Wisconsin State representative and then as a circuit judge.

“He was a jurist of another era who took very seriously the power a circuit judge yielded to make decisions that affected people in their lives,” Port Washington attorney Eric Eberhardt said.

“His diminutive stature belied the fact he was a giant in the legal world in this part of the state.”

Mr. Grady, 95, who died Saturday, Dec. 14, in Baraboo, was a mentor to two of the county’s current judges, Sandy Williams and Paul Malloy, who said he viewed himself as a teacher for young attorneys.

“He understood we were new lawyers,” Mr. Malloy said. “Through his manner in court he helped us continue our development. He viewed that as a part of the learning process.”

Ms. Williams said the judge was progressive for his time, allowing her as an intern to practice in his courtroom.

“He was so helpful,” she said. “Without hesitation, he would give me insight and good pieces of advice.”

Mr. Grady had an understanding of people and was a “real decent human being. He treated people well,” Mr. Malloy added.

The judge’s son-in-law Mark Voll said that people have told the family that they “appreciated the way he treated them at a particularly difficult or vulnerable time in their life. He would give them fatherly advice a judge today might get in trouble for.

At times, Mr. Grady would issue what Ms. Williams referred to as creative sentences designed to instill a lesson on people.

She recalled one man who had been brought to court for painting graffiti. Mr. Grady was so mad at him for the damage he caused, he sentenced him to clean the parking meters at Port’s lakefront with a toothbrush, she said.

The judge ordered another man to pick up beer cans at the side of Highway 33 between Port and Saukville and sell them at a recycling center until he made restitution in his case, she said.

“Not all his sentences were like that, but you could tell that some things really got under his skin,” she said.

Cases involving divorce and children were particularly difficult for Mr. Grady, his son-in-law said.

“It was tough on him to see what was happening to families and children,” he said.

Mr. Grady was the third generation of his family to become an attorney, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, his daughter Sue Voll said.

“He loved to serve,” she said.

His son-in-law added, “His generation was raised to be involved in the church, in their community and their family — those were the three things that were most important, and Warren was devoted to those things.”

A native of Port Washington, Mr. Grady was born on March 3, 1924, the son of Albert and Ethel Blessing Grady.

He was an outstanding student-athlete who competed in track and football, was a member of the National Honor Society and the debate team at Port Washington High School, where he graduated in 1942.

He was later inducted into the school’s Wall of Honor.

He enlisted in the Navy on July 1, 1943, earning the rank of lieutenant and serving on the LSM 395 in the Pacific Fleet during World War II. He was discharged on July 2, 1946.

He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1947, then earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison in 1951.

He sang in the church choir at Friedens Evangelical Church in Port Washington, where he met Phyllis Witzlib. The couple married in 1951 and settled in Port.

Mr. Grady established a private law practice from 1950 to 1955, then became a partner with his brother Stuart in a law firm from 1955 to 1962.

He became city attorney in Port Washington in April 1952, then ran for the Wisconsin Legislature, winning the first of four terms in the Assembly in November 1952. During the 1957 session, he was chosen to be the majority floor leader.

One of his accomplishments while in the Assembly was helping to restructure the state court system.

His time in the legislature helped Mr. Grady after he was first elected to Ozaukee County circuit court in 1962, Ms. Williams said.

“He understood how to interpret the statutes because he helped create them,” she said.

Mr. Grady was an active father of eight who was a Sunday school teacher at his church, a Scout leader who was awarded the Silver Beaver Award — the highest honor a Scout leader can achieve — and was a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Kiwanis Club.

He was a history buff who had an abiding love for the West, his daughter said, noting it was a passion nurtured when he helped pay for school by serving as a tour guide on trains heading throughout the West and northwest.

He loved to travel, and with his wife and family visited 49 of the 50 states —Alaska was the only state he missed, his daughter said.

Mr. Grady enjoyed collecting stamps and coins, was a voracious reader who enjoyed the books of Louis L’Amour and Stephen Ambrose, as well as several newspapers each day.

He was a letter writer who would handwrite messages on legal pads to his children and grandchildren, his daughter said, noting one child would receive the original and the others would get photocopies.

Mr. Grady loved the family’s cabin at Townline Lake in Three Lakes, and after he and his wife purchased the home he took a woodworking class so he could do his own home improvements, including building an addition and deck.

After his retirement, Mr. Grady and his wife spent much of their time at Three Lakes and in Green Valley, Ariz., although the couple had most recently moved to Oak Park Place in Baraboo.

He had a bout of pneumonia in August and never rebounded, his daughter said, adding he died of an infection after a day in hospice care.

Mr. Grady is survived by his wife Phyllis of Baraboo; children Kevin (Nancy) of Port Washington, Susan (Mark) Voll of Bella Vista, Ark., Kim (Alan) Geisthardt of Fond du Lac, Thomas (Deona) of Germantown, Karen (Dave) Stigen of Baraboo, Derek of Madison and Michael (Dawn) of Oconomowoc; daughter-in-law Sandy Grady of Madison; 17 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, six siblings and son Jeffrey.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at Friedens Evangelical Church in Port Washington.

Visitation will be at the church from 9 a.m. until the service.

Memorials to the church or Wisconsin Special Olympics are suggested.