William Alexander Valentine ’27

Bill died on July 31, 1988. He joined the class after transferring from Lafayette College in 1925. He was des¬tined to be a legal luminary, catching the flame from his father, W. Alfred Valentine, an eminent lawyer in Wilkes-¬Barre, Penn., and a trustee of Dickinson Law School. Bill earned his law degree at Dickinson after majoring in politics at Princeton.

Bill enjoyed a distinguished legal career. For a time, he practiced in Wilkes-Barre with his brother Jonathan. He filled many important legal offices in Luzerne County, succeeded Ben Jones '27 as assistant county at¬torney, and from 1947 to 1951 was special deputy attor¬ney general of Pennsylvania. He also was active in many legal associations and became widely known as the au¬thor of Subordinate Courts of Pennsylvania and the editor of the 15th edition of Binns' Justice. Bill was a popular public speaker and was involved in Presbyterian Church affairs, the Rotary Club, and the Masons. He joined the Field Artillery Reserve, hunted and fished, played the piano, composed classical music, and raised Jersey cattle, English setters, and Arabian Palomino horses. It seems fair to pin on him the label "Renais¬sance Man." Most classmates were unaware of his bright and varied career until they received our Thirty-Fifth Year Record.

A large part of the record was raising a family. His first wife (Helen A. MacQueen) died in 1954. In 1955, he married Agnes L. Tompkins. We dedicate this too-brief sketch to Helen, Agnes, his son William Alford Valen¬tine, of Dallas, Penn., and his daughter Nancy (Mrs. Alan Nash), of Northridge, Calif.

The Class of 1927