A funeral service for Arthur N. Hamilton, 93, retired
presiding judge of the Juvenile Court of Cook County, is Saturday, 11 a.m., at
St. Mark United Methodist Church, 8441 S. St. Lawrence Ave., preceded by a
one-hour visitation. Interment is at Oak Woods Cemetery, 1035 E. 67th
St.
Hamilton, who died Dec. 25, was considered by the late
Mayor Harold Washington as his “significant mentor” and once stated publicly
that he felt “Art,” as he was called, should have been elected and not him.
Judge Hamilton, during the time he was president of the Sixth Ward Democratic
Organization, also mentored the late Mayor Eugene Sawyer when he was alderman
of the 6th Ward.
Hamilton –– born Jan. 21, 1917 in New Orleans –– moved with his mother, step-father and two brothers to Chicago’s West Side during the Depression and in order to support their family dropped out of McKinley High School to work, but returned to graduate in 1936.
Three years later he married Mary Easter Carter and in
1942 they moved to Detroit where he attended Wayne State Univ. and served with
the National Guard during world War II. At the end of the war, they returned to
Chicago. He attended Chicago-Kent Law School, earned a Juris Doctorate degree
and was admitted to the Illinois Bar.
He subsequently served as a member of the law firm of
Blakely, Cooper, Crank and Perry, an Assistant States Attorney, Assistant
Illinois Attorney General, the Chicago Park District’s First Assistant General
Counsel where he played an integral legal role in the Chicago Bears’ move to
Soldier Field, Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Presiding
Judge of the Neglected Calendar of the Juvenile Division and Presiding Judge of
the Juvenile Court which today still is the second largest in the nation.
In
1957 Judge Hamilton campaigned to become alderman of the 24th Ward on the West
Side where Sears & Roebuck had its corporate headquarters.
Although
unsuccessful in his bid to become alderman with his campaign slogan “Home Rule
for the 24th Ward,” he garnered the endorsements of U. S. Sen. Paul Douglas and Dr. William
R. Clarke, a close friend.
The
organization later provided the framework and much of the senior staffing later
utilized in the 1980s by Harold Washington in his successful bid for mayor.
During
his tenure, Hamilton received numerous awards from the Chicago community, his
peers and enjoyed teaching at the National College for Judges at the University
of Nevada in Reno.
Throughout
his career he held memberships in the Cook County Bar Association, National Bar
Association and American Bar Association. In private practice he had as clients
and law associates that included the likes of such luminaries as business
magnet S.B. Fuller, founder and president of the Fuller Products Co., publisher
of the New York Age and Pittsburgh Courier, head of the South Side Chicago NAACP, president of the
National Negro Business League, and a prominent African American Republican,
and the Hon. Edith Sampson, first African American female judge in the U.S.
In
1992 Hamilton retired at age 75 and for the remainder of his life enjoyed golf,
traveling with his family, especially to Southern Oregon where his son resides.
His wife of 71 years preceded him in death in February, 2010 and he is survived by his son, Guy Sr.; a daughter, Lisa (Edward) Carter; and five grandchildren, Guy Jr., Thomas, Christopher and Alexia Hamilton and Kris Dawson.
The
family wishes to thank Hamilton’s immediate care-giving staff, Catherine Brown,
Patrice Barbee, Lanetta March, Parelee Shelly, Debra Shaw, Arnedia Calhoun,
Anneice Carpenter and Florence Phillips, for its love and support. Memorial
contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
