Samuel Marks Fegtly (1867-1947)

FEGTLY, FEGTLEY, ARCHER, NICHOLS

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 5/4/2014 at 00:14:50

From Nevada Evening Journal August 16, 1947

Tucson, Arizona Pays Tribute to S. M. Fegtly

For the many friends of S. M. Fegtley, early day resident of Nevada, graduate of the Nevada high school with the class of 1884, who later became a prominenet Tucson, Arizona citizen, the following report from the Tucson press of Tuesday morning August 12, will have interest.

"Samuel Marks Fegtly, 79, dean emeritus of the University of Arizona college of law and a resident of Tucson for over 30 years died at 11:45 a. m. yesterday at his home at 621 North Tyndall avenue. He had been in failing health for some years and ill for nearly seven months before death came suddenly yesterday.

"Dean Fegtly will always personify the college of law at the University of Arizona," said the new law college dean, John D. Lyons, Jr. "His place will never be filled there or in the hearts of those lawyers who enjoyed the rare privilege of his influence and guidance in their student days."

President J. Byron McCormick, formerly law college dean, is now in California vacationing and could not be contacted for comment of the death of the former dean and his colleagues for many years.

No Funeral Arrangements

No funeral arrangement had been made at Parker Mortuary late yesterday, but it is expected that law college will close at least during the funeral services, Dean Lyons indicated.

Dean Fegtly would have been 80 years old August 30, having been born on that date in 1867 in Ohio, a son of the late Jacob and Sarah Fegtly. he leaves his wife, the former Mary Archer, whom he married June 30, 1903 in Chicago, and a daughter, Margaret Frank Nichols were with him at the time of his death.

Faculty Appointment

A member of the University of Arizona faculty since 1915, Dean Fegtly came to that institution first as an instructor in public speaking, a position he held for a year. In 1916, he became a head professor of law, and in 1919, director of the school of law. He became dean of the law college in 1926, holding that position until 1936 when he became dean emeritus.

He headed the law school in 1930 when it was placed on the list of approved law schools of the American Bar Association and in 1951 when it was admitted to membership in the Association of American Law Schools. In addition to his work on the university campus, Dean Fegtly was known for his interest in many civic and social enterprises, having served in an unofficial capacity in many civic projects.

Phi Beta Kappa

A graduate of Nevada high school in Iowa in 1882, the educator attended Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, from 1885 to 1887, winning the Library Prize given there for excellence in freshman studies. He took his PhD at Northwestern university in Evanston, Ill., in 1897 and was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. In 1900, he took his LLB degree at the Northwestern university law college in Illinois and was chosen a member of the Order of the Coif.

Dean Fegtly began practicing law in Illinois in 11900. A member of the Chicago bar, he was attorney for the state Bank of Chicago from 1901 to 1912.

The late dean was a member of the American Bar Association, the Pima County Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science, in addition to belonging to the Arizona and Illinois bars. he was vice-president of of the Pima County Bar Association in 1929-30 and president in 1930-31.

His school and college honor societies include Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Delta Rho Sigma, Order of the Coif and Pi Gamma Mu. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, joining at Simpson College in 1886. Later, he was co-founder of the chapter at Northwestern university in 1893.

Affiliated with the Congregational Church, Dean Fegtly was a thirty second degree Mason, belonging to Arizona Consistory No. 1, Epes Randolph Lodge No. 32. The Fegtly home in Tucson is at 621 North Tyndall avenue.