David Kent Winder

David Kent Winder (June 8, 1932 – May 19, 2009) was a United States federal judge.

Life

Winder was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to a locally prominent family, whose main business was a large dairy farm (Winder Farms). He attended Granite High School, where played tricks such as parading a cow through the school's halls when campaigning for student-body president.^[1] After high school graduation Winder served in the United States Air Force (1951–1952), then attended the University of Utah, receiving a B.A. in English in 1955.

Winder married Pamela Martin. They had three children, Ann, Kay and James.

Winder received an LL.B. degree from Stanford Law School in 1958. He was a law clerk for the Hon. Allan Crockett, Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice (1958–1959). He was a Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney (1959–1963). He was an assistant U.S. Attorney of District of Utah (1963–1965). He was a Chief deputy district attorney of Utah (1965–1966).

In 1966 he joined the private Utah law firm Strong & Hanni. In 1977 Utah Governor Scott M. Matheson appointed Winder a judge for the State of Utah's Third District.^[2] He served as state judge until 1979, when he was appointed as a federal judge.

Winder was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Utah, nominated by President Jimmy Carter on 1 November 1979, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. Winder was confirmed by the United States Senate on 4 December 1979, and received his commission on 6 December 1979. He served as chief judge (1993–1997), assuming senior status on 8 June 1997, with a reduced workload.

Judge Winder battled Parkinson's disease in his final years, and in 2007 he ceased hearing cases, due to the disease's debilitating effects and the onset of dementia. He died on 19 May 2009 in Salt Lake City at the age of 76. He was preceded in death by his wife, and was survived by his three children (son Jim was the Salt Lake County Sheriff at the time of his father's death). He was buried on the family plot at Winder Dairy on 26 May.^[3]

Winder was known for his kindness and humility. A former Winder clerk told a newspaper reporter how Winder knew the first name of the person who cleaned his courtroom, and treated her with the same respect that he showed to attorneys.

Honors and awards

Within a year of being appointed to the bench, Winder was named Judge of the Year by the Utah State Bar.

In a 1996 poll of Utah lawyers conducted by the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper, Winder was the state's highest-rated judge.^[4]

Lawyers considered Winder to be an outstanding jurist. A University of Utah law professor described him as "the consummate federal judge".^[4]

Sources

• David Kent Winder at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.