wfn.org | U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Prominent Lutheran, Dies

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 6, 2005

U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Prominent Lutheran, Dies
05-166-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the
United States and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA), died Sept. 3 of thyroid cancer at his home in
Arlington, Va.	He was 80.
     Rehnquist's body will lie in repose Sept. 6-7 in the Great
Hall of the Supreme Court of the United States.  A funeral will
be conducted Sept. 7 at St. Matthew's Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
Burial at Arlington National Cemetery will be private.
     Rehnquist was a member of Lutheran Church of the Redeemer,
McLean, Va.
     "Chief Justice Rehnquist never took his faith for granted.
It was strong, central and, like him, without pretense.  He was a
genuine Lutheran Christian," said his pastor, the Rev. George W.
Evans Jr.
     "He managed to keep his Sundays free for activities like the
church.  He was a student in Redeemer's Evening Forum series on
Lutheran faith and teachings, participating in that alongside his
high school age granddaughter," Evans said.  "He was a fabulous
grandfather."
     "Chief Justice Rehnquist's interests, span of knowledge,
quick wit and understandings were large.  I came to regard him as
a genuine 'Renaissance Man.'  His questions were honest,
discerning and unassuming.  He kept learning and growing.  He was
our brother in Christ," his pastor said.
     "Our nation is saddened today by the news that Chief Justice
William Rehnquist passed away last night," U.S. President George
W. Bush said in a Sept. 4 statement.  "Laura and I send our
respect and deepest sympathy to this good man's children, Jim,
Janet and Nancy.  We send our respects to all the members of the
Rehnquist family," he said.
     Rehnquist "was extremely well respected for his powerful
intellect.  He was respected for his deep commitment to the rule
of law and his profound devotion to duty.  He provided superb
leadership for the federal court system, improving the delivery
of justice for the American people and earning the admiration of
his colleagues throughout the judiciary," Bush said.
     "Chief Justice William Rehnquist served the U.S. Supreme
Court with integrity and dedication.  During his 33-year career
on the Supreme Court -- 19 as Chief Justice -- Justice Rehnquist
streamlined the court's operation.  He will be remembered for
presiding over the court during historic events in our nation's
history.  Among them, he presided over an impeachment trial, and
he presided as the court made the final decisions of the 2000
presidential campaign," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding
bishop of the ELCA.
     "During his tenure his opinions reflected his convictions as
well as his commitment to the judiciary.  In recent months he
remained faithful to his calling as Chief Justice despite his
illness with thyroid cancer.  As presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I extend sympathies to
his family and friends, and thank God for this humble and
faithful servant," Hanson said.
     "The Chief Justice had a deep and abiding sense of the
importance of religion for this nation and its people, and over
the past three decades he has led a change in the constitutional
law of church and state that now allows that importance to be
recognized," said Robert Tuttle, professor of law, George
Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C.  Tuttle co-
authored "Church and State: Lutheran Perspectives."
     "In his years on the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice has
been the nation's leading proponent of 'professionalism' among
lawyers -- a particular kind of legal ethics that focuses
especially on civility and decorum," Tuttle said.  "He understood
that the authority of law depends on an appropriate respect for
the law's dignity.  And this meant respect for and by those who
administer it, including judges, lawyers, clerks and litigants
. respect shaped with a touch of reverence and awe," he said.
     Born Oct. 1, 1924, in Milwaukee, Rehnquist attended public
schools in Shorewood, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee, and graduated
from Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass., and Stanford Law School.  He served in the U.S.
Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1946.  He was a law clerk for
Justice Robert H. Jackson of the Supreme Court of the United
States, 1951-1952.
     Rehnquist practiced law in Phoenix from 1953 to 1969.
President Richard Nixon appointed him assistant attorney general,
Office of Legal Counsel, in 1969 and to the Supreme Court of the
United States in 1972.	President Ronald Reagan nominated him in
1986 to be the nation's 16th Chief Justice.
     In 1953 he married Natalie Cornell Rehnquist, who died in
1991.  Natalie Rehnquist had served eight years as director of
volunteer services at the National Lutheran Home for the Aged,
Rockville, Md.
     In 1998 Rehnquist took part in briefings hosted by the
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs and the ELCA
Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod for Lutheran bishops.  The
Chief Justice said a sense of God's call to his vocation kept him
going.
     "God put you on earth to do a job.  Every day is a gift of
God.  You plow into your work," said Rehnquist.  "You may have
problems -- physical, emotional -- but you have the sense that
God is looking after you."
     Rehnquist announced in October 2004 that he had thyroid
cancer, and he dismissed questions about his retiring from the
court.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news