[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 99 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4721-S4722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING JUDGE ROBERT C. BOOCHEVER

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, next week the Juneau community 
will come together to honor the late Judge Robert C. Boochever, who 
passed away on October 9, 2011. At the time of his passing, Judge 
Boochever was a senior judge of the Ninth Circuit, U.S. Court of 
Appeals. Since Alaska was admitted to statehood, only three Alaskans 
have served on that court. Judge Boochever was the first of the three.
  Judge Boochever was not born in Alaska, but he earned the right to be 
called an Alaskan through decades of service, on and off the bench, to 
our community. Robert C. Boochever was born in New York City on October 
2, 1917, and grew up in Ithaca, the home of Cornell University where 
his father was director of public relations. He completed his 
undergraduate work and law degree at Cornell, then enlisted in the 
Army. Deployed to Newfoundland as a legal officer, he met Connie 
Maddox, who was the chief surgical nurse for the base. They were 
married in April 1943.
  At the end of the war, a long-time family friend from Cornell, Warren 
Caro, who had been an aide to Alaska's territorial Governor, Ernest 
Gruening, told Judge Boochever about a job in Juneau. It was an 
assistant U.S. attorney position, but at the time there was no U.S. 
attorney, so Boochever would in fact be running the operation. At the 
time, Judge Boochever knew nothing of Alaska or Juneau other than the 
praises sung by his family friend, Warren Caro. But that didn't stop 
him from asking Alaska's delegate to Congress, Bob Bartlett, for a 
recommendation. Once offered the job, he persuaded Connie to give 
Alaska a try and they never looked back.
  In 1947, Boochever joined the Faulkner Banfield law office in Juneau 
and soon was made a named partner. He built the Faulkner Banfield firm, 
which dates back to 1914, into one of Alaska's great law firms. That 
firm continues to operate today as Faulkner Banfield in Juneau and 
Holmes, Weddle and Barcott with offices in Anchorage, Seattle, Portland 
and San Diego. Mike Holmes, one of his partners, described Boochever as 
``the best trial lawyer in the State.'' He served as president of both 
the Alaska and Juneau Bar Associations.

[[Page S4722]]

  In 1972, Judge Boochever was named to the Alaska Supreme Court and 
served as chief justice for three years. In 1980, President Carter 
nominated Judge Boochever to the Ninth Circuit. In an oral history, 
Judge Boochever described himself as a champion of individual rights 
who was also sympathetic to the problems of law enforcement. His Ninth 
Circuit colleague, Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson, the former dean of the 
University of Southern California Law School, described Boochever as 
the best writer on the court.
  But a distinguished legal career was but one measure of this 
outstanding Alaskan. Judge Boochever was a gentleman who greeted women 
with the tip of a hat, a family man whose daughter would sing out loud, 
``Oh, we're the happy Boochevers'' to the tune of ``Jolly Good 
Fellow,'' an avid birdwatcher, a poet, a singer and a pianist.
  According to a 1997 tribute in the Alaska Bar Rag, he was ``revered 
by his friends and neighbors as a dedicated advocate who championed 
causes that helped shape the Juneau community.''
  He was the first chairman of the Juneau Planning Commission, a vocal 
opponent of efforts to move Alaska's capital out of Juneau, and a 
leader in the successful campaign to create the University of Alaska 
Southeast in Auke Bay. Judge Boochever, and Connie, who predeceased 
him, were selected by the Juneau Rotary Club as Man and Woman of the 
Year. Connie will long be remembered as a champion of the arts in 
Juneau. What an outstanding team.
  Outstanding families are the product of outstanding patriarchs. Judge 
Boochever was the father of four outstanding daughters. Barbara, an 
avid skier, whose daughter Hillary Lindh, would grow up to be an 
Olympic silver medalist in downhill skiing; Linda, an Anchorage 
businesswoman; Mimi, a teacher nationally renowned for teaching the 
fine arts to young people; and Ann, a music teacher who cofounded two 
of Juneau's finest restaurants.
  Judge Boochever was outstanding in every respect. It is people like 
Judge Boochever who moved Alaska from the last frontier of the 
prestatehood period to the best place in America to live, work and 
raise a family. I am grateful for his significant contributions to the 
quality of life we today enjoy in the State of Alaska. That is why I 
was proud to cosponsor legislation naming the Juneau Federal courthouse 
in perpetuity for Judge Boochever. That is why I am proud to honor his 
life and legacy today.

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