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2014 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 369
Celebrating the life of the Honorable William Elbert Anderson.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 28, 2014
Agreed to by the Senate, March 5, 2014

 

WHEREAS, William Elbert Anderson, a lifelong member of the Danville community and a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and chief judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Western District of Virginia, died on June 20, 2013; and

WHEREAS, William “Bill” Anderson attended George Washington High School and later earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; he received a law degree from the University of Richmond in 1959; and

WHEREAS, over the next 21 years, Bill Anderson practiced law in Danville, including as an assistant Commonwealth’s attorney from 1960 to 1962 and as a name partner in a Danville firm from 1962 to 1980; and

WHEREAS, Bill Anderson was active in the legal community; he was a member of the Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and American Bar Association; he also served as president of the Danville Bar Association and was the first chairman of the Bankruptcy Section for the Federal Bar Association; and

WHEREAS, respected for his sense of fairness and keen intellect, Bill Anderson was appointed as commissioner for the Department of Highways and Transportation in 1979, then appointed as a judge in the Western District of Virginia of the United States Bankruptcy Court in 1982; and

WHEREAS, Judge Anderson went on to become the chief bankruptcy judge of the district from 1991 to 1993 and served as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1986 to 2004; and

WHEREAS, Judge Anderson was a recognized leader in bankruptcy law; he was elected as a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, served on the Board of Governors of the American Bankruptcy Institute, and was appointed by a Supreme Court justice to serve on several distinguished bankruptcy committees in the federal judiciary; and

WHEREAS, Judge Anderson served his fellow judges as the president of the National Conference on Bankruptcy Judges; the organization honored him with its prestigious Herbert M. Bierce Distinguished Judicial Service Award, which has only been presented five times since its creation in 1926; and

WHEREAS, Judge Anderson also worked tirelessly to better the local community, donating his time and talents to many civic and service organizations in Danville, including as the president of the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Merchants Association; and

WHEREAS, a man of great integrity, Judge Anderson served the community, the Commonwealth, and the nation with dedication and distinction; and

WHEREAS, Bill Anderson will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his beloved wife of 28 years, Carolyn, and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of William Elbert Anderson, a respected federal judge and a true southern gentleman in Danville; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of William Elbert Anderson as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.