Page 55 - ACTL Journal Fall24

high school to enlist in the United States Navy when he turned seventeen and served as a seaman during World War II at the Naval Operating Base at Adak in the Aleu-
tian Islands, attached to the Marine detachment there.
He was discharged in 1946 and enlisted in the Naval Re- serve. While at the University of Akron, he was ordered to duty during the Korean War. He was commissioned as an officer and served on the USS Currituck (a seaplane tender) and the USS LST (landing ship – tank) 533.
tering law school at the University of Tennessee in 1961, he served for six months active duty in the Army Reserves with the 489th Civil Affairs Company. After two years as faculty at the UTK College of Law, Judge Rosenbalm be- gan private law practice in 1966, becoming a partner in his firm the following year. After twenty-four years as a trial lawyer, he left that firm in 1990 to pursue a campaign for the elected position of Circuit Court Judge. He was elected in 1990 and re-elected in 1998 and 2006. He pre- sided over an estimated 16,000 cases and countless adop- tions. He retired as Circuit Court Judge for the city of Knoxville in December of 2013. In his spare time, Judge Rosenbalm enjoyed dove hunting and fly fishing. He was featured in a video produced by the Tennessee Wildlife Authority while fishing in the Little Tennessee River, and a still shot photo of that experience graces the cover of the Tennessee Conservationist magazine publication.
Richard Gene Santi, ’88, died at age seventy-nine on April 24, 2024. Richard graduated with high distinction in 1966 from Iowa State University, marrying his high- school sweetheart, Carolyn Ackerlund, in 1965. Richard earned his law degree in 1969 from the University of Iowa, and worked two years as a law clerk for federal District Court Judge William Hanson in Fort Dodge. He settled in Des Moines in 1971. Richard was an avid golfer who loved being outdoors, maintaining his acre- age, pond, and personal three-hole golf course. He was a voracious reader and card player. Richard and Caro- lyn were avid travelers who visited most of the United States and took more than two dozen international trips. Richard leaves behind his wife of fifty-nine years, two children and three grandchildren.
George Lawton Saunders, Jr., ’88, passed away at the age of ninety-two on
June 13, 2024. George
was born in the depths
of the Depression in
the coal mining town
of Mulga, Alabama; his
father worked in the
mines until they were closed. Although his mother was forced to drop out of school at the age of ten, she was de- termined to mentor her children and instilled in George a love of learning. After graduating from high school at the age of fifteen, George worked odd jobs until he was old enough to enlist in the Air Force. George then attend- ed the University of Alabama, earning his AB in 1957.
After separating from the Navy, Sam entered law school at Case Western Reserve University, graduating in 1956. While there he met Mary Alice. They were married six- ty-seven years. Sam was President of the Akron Bar As- sociation. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Akron Law School where he lectured on trial advocacy.
He often provided pro bono legal and financial assistance for clients, friends, and others in need. Sam and Mary Alice loved to travel, having visited Greece, Italy, Turkey, and England. Sam is survived by Mary Alice, two chil- dren and two grandsons.
Hon. Wheeler Armston Rosenbalm, ’86, passed peace- fully on April 4, 2024 at age eighty-six, survived by his wife of almost sixty-four years, Betty Katherine Smith Rosenbalm, a child
and two grandchildren. Judge Rosenbalm grew up tending the family farm and dairy. He attended a three- room elementary school, and jokingly claimed he
was held back in the first grade, which motivated him to apply himself even that much more to his future academic studies. He went to Lincoln Memorial University, where he was elected president of his class every year. Before en-
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