HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 1965.08.10 - 19616Miscellaneous Resolution 4465 August 10, 1965
BY Mr. Osgood
IN RE: MEMORIAL FOR STANTON GRANT DONDERO
TO THE OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is the time appointed for us to lay aside our deliberations, to pause in the
performance of our duties, so that we may pay a just tribute to the career and to the
memory of a public servant so recently and prematurely taken from us.
Stanton Grant Dondero, Circuit Judge, departed this life on Sunday, June 27,
1965; his demise at the age of forty nine was both unexpected and shocking.
He was born in Royal Oak, the son of George A. Doriclero and Adele Roegner
Dondero, both of whom survive. Educated in the schools of Royal Oak, he attended the
University of Kentucky and the University of Michigan Law School, securing his law degree
in 1940.
Following his admission to the practice of law, Judge Dander° entered into a course
of training for his ultimate elevation to the Bench by serving as court clerk for the late
Judge George B. Hartrick. After a year of judicial indoctrination, the young lawyer
opened his own office in Royal Oak for the general practice of law, shortly thereafter
becoming City Attorney for Hazel Park.
The cataclysm which befell the world in the 1940s swept Judge Dondero into the
military service, his devotion to his patriotic duty leading him to enlist in the United States
Navy in 1943. Following enlistment, he qualified for a commission by virtue of a cram
course at Harvard University, and was then posted to combat duty in the Pacific Ocean
as a communications officer on the staff of the Admiral commanding, spending a
substantial part of his tour of duty on the cruiser Montpelier. He was discharged from the
Navy in 1946, having he ld a commission as a lieutenant, and was active in the Naval
Reserve until his death, holding a commission as lieutenant commander.
Hugh Allerton, Jr.
The young lawyer then returned to his private practice in Royal Oak and quickly
became an influence for good in the affairs of his community, all in keeping with his
family tradition. He was a member of Delta Theta Phi law fraternity, the Royal Oak
Methodist Church, Red Run Golf Club, the Royal Oak Lodge of the Elks, Pontiac Rotary
Club and Torch Lake Yacht and Country Club.
At the time of his departure, Judge Dondero was completing his first six-year
term as a circuit judge. His judicial demeanor, his courteous devotion to the problems
of litigants, and his genuine friendship for all people won him the endearing admiration
of bench, bar and laymen.
While still in the Naval service, he was married to Irma Crabb of Huntington Woods,
and their union was blessed with three children, Margaret, James and Mary. He is
survived by his wife and children, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George A. Dondero, by his
brother Robert and his sister, Mrs. Marion Wilson.
Judge Dondero maintained an abiding interest in the history of his community and
his nation, actively sharing such interest with his father and friends, and through member-
ship in the Royal Oak Historical Society and the Civil War Roundtable.
Cut off from this life at the very threshhold of even greater accomplishment,
Judge Dondero leaves a void in the community, but he also leaves a career which may
well serve as a goal for all who aspire to distinction and honor.
MR. CHAIRMAN, I move the foregoing memorial be spread upon the minutes of
the Board of Supervisors and that the County Clerk be instructed to forward a certified
copy thereof to Judge Donclero's surviving wife and parents.
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