PALATKA DAILY NEWS
Palatka, Putnam County, Florida
Tuesday, September 26, 1978
WILLIAM WADSWORTH
Circuit Court Judge Wadsworth Dies
Circuit Court Judge William "Billy" Wadsworth, 65, died early today at his home in Palm Coast, a victim of cancer.
At his side were his wife of 36 years, the former Frances Faulkner and daughters, Wilhelmina "Prunie" Wadsworth, Palm Coast, Mrs. Gale Shephard, DeLand, and Mrs. Susan Roberts, Lakeland.
"Billy" Wadsworth was known as a man of contrast He was a man of the earth, who proudly called himself a "cracker." He grew up in his beloved Flagler County and never lost his feeling for the little town of Bunnell, which was always "home."
Judge Wadsworth was born in Hawthorne. He was graduated from the Citadel with a Bachelor of Science degree and from Stetson Law School He served as a Representative to the Florida Legislature and in 1966 was elected a circuit court judge. He took office in 1967 and served continually from that time, re-elected without opposition in 1972 and again this year to the Seventh Judicial Court Circuit. He was elected to serve for the term to begin in January 1979.
Wadsworth was a member of Palm Coast Lutheran Church, the Florida Bar Association and the National Association of Attorneys. He also served in World War II.
Besides his wife and daughters, he is survived by his mother, Mrs. Lotta Wadsworth, Hawthorne; two brothers, Lewis Wadsworth, Bunnell, and Brady Wadsworth, Lufkin, Texas; a sister, Mrs. Betty Taylor, Punta Gorda and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Mark By-The-Sea Lutheran Church, Palm Coast, with Pastor Marcus Otter be officiating. Burial will be in Hope Cemetery.
Calling hours are from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday in Craig Funeral Home Bunnell. Williams-Thomas Funeral Home, Gainesville, is in charge of arrangements.
The family requests that any memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society.
DELAND SUN NEWS
DeLand, Florida
Tuesday, September 26, 1978
CIRCUIT JUDGE WADSORTH CANCER VICTIM AT 65
William “Billy” Wadsworth, a judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida since 1966, died early this morning at his home at Palm Coast.
Judge Wadsworth, 65, was born in Hawthorn and was reared in Bunnell as a member of a lumber and timber production family. He was a cancer victim.
Earlier this year, Judge Wadsworth announced he was a candidate for reelection to the circuit court judgeship. He and no opposition and his name would not have been on the Nov. 7 general ballot.
Circuit Judge Warren Cobb of Daytona Beach, the presiding judge of the circuit, in a prepared statement this morning said: “The judges of this circuit are deeply saddened by the passing of Billy Wadsworth. We respected and admired his integrity, his love of the law, and his unique sense of humor. He carried a special place in our hearts. The Bench, the Bar and the community have lost an irreplaceable friend.”
Judge Cobb said it is expected that a replacement for Judge Wadsworth, the resident circuit judge foe Flagler County, will be named by Gov. Reubin Askew. The selection will come from a list prepared by a nominating committee of the circuit headed by Leon Van Wert, a Daytona Beach attorney. The resident judge of Flagler will be required to reside in that county but will not necessarily have to live there now, Judge Cobb, said. The appointment will be until the 1980 general election.
A graduate of The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, Judge Wadsworth was a World War II Army officer. After the war, he enrolled in Stetson University’s School of Law and graduated in 1949. He was a practicing attorney until elected to the judgeship in 1966 and served in the Florida House of Representative for 10 years beginning in 1966.
He married Frances Faulkner, a relative of the author, William Faulkner, 36 years ago. She was a school teacher in Bunnell when they married.
He is also survived by three daughters, Susan Roberts, a Polk County judge in Lakeland, Gail Shephard of DeLand, wife a Kenton Shephard, and Miss Prunie Wadsworth of Bunnell, an August graduate of Stetson, the 24th member of the Wadsworth family to receive a degree from Stetson.
Other survivors include his mother, Mrs. Lotta Wadsworth of Hawthorne; two brothers, Lewis of Bunnell and Brady of Texas; a sister, Mrs. Betty Taylor of Punta Gorda.
The William Thomas Funeral Home of Gainesville is in charge of arrangements, but friends may call at the Craig Funeral Home in Bunnell Wednesday evening.
Funeral services for Judge Wadsworth will be at 2 p.m. Thursday in St. Mary’s Lutheran Church on St. Joe’s Grade Road off U.S. 1 in Palm Coast. Burial will be in Hope Cemetery on Old Kings Road one mile south of State Road 11 in Flagler County.
ORLANDO SENTINEL STAR
Orlando, Florida
Wednesday, September 27, 1978
PALM COAST – Long-time Circuit Court Judge William “Billy” Wadsworth, who has often been likened to Will Rogers because of his wit and keen sense of humor, died early Tuesday after a long bout with cancer.
Even though Wadsworth had long been ill, he was active on the bench in the 7th Judicial Circuit until “right up to the end,” said Chief Circuit Court Judge Warren Cobb.
“He was someone I think everyone liked,” Cobb said. “He brightened up many of my days by stopping by my office to have a cup of coffee or just chat.
“He was a quite a storyteller and he was also something of a local historian.
“We all respected and admired his integrity, his love for the law, and his unique sense of humor.
“He carried a special place in our hearts and the bench, the Bar and the community has lost an irreplaceable friend.”
The 65-year-old Wadsworth died at his home. At his side were Frances, his wife of 36 years, his three daughters – Polk County Judge Susan Roberts, Lakeland; Gail Shephard, DeLand; and Wilhelmina, a recent Stetson graduate.
After serving a decade in the State House of Representatives, he returned to Flagler County where he was elected a 7th Judicial Circuit judge in 1966.
During his years on the bench in Volusia and Flagler counties and in the Legislature before that, he made a indelible mark on both, according to his colleagues.
Even though Wadsworth “seemed sort of country and had a homey likeable appearance like Lincoln of Carl Sandburg” he was also urbane and known for his polished rhetoric and oratory that brought him acclaim wherever he went, according to this colleagues.
Those who knew Wadsworth when he first was elected to the bench, saw a man who changed with the times. At first he wore only black suits, which he thought befitting of his office. As times changed, he changed and soon the black suit gave way to the new styles and new prints.
His appearance – which many times appeared slightly rumpled – never hid his wit and intelligence. Those were always visible, his colleagues said.
Cobb said it’s expected Gov. Reubin will appoint someone to replace Wadsworth on the bench for two years until the 1980 election.
THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, September 28, 1978The Flagler County Circuit Court Judge died at the age of 64 about 4 p.m. Friday at his home, 45 Florida Drive, Palm Coast.
At his side when he breathed his last breath were his wife of 35 years, Frances, and his three daughters, Wilhelmina (known as “Prunie”), Mrs. Gail Shephard of DeLand and Mrs. Susan Roberts of Lakeland.
The funeral service is scheduled for 2 this afternoon at St. Marks by the Sea Lutheran Church is Palm Coast where Judge Wadsworth worshipped for the past couple of years with Pastor Marc Ottervein officiating.
According to the family, interment will follow in Hope Cemetery on Old Kings Road, just off State Road 100.
Billy, as most of his Flagler County neighbors called him affectionately called him, was a man of contrasts, according to biographical material furnished the Tribune by a former news writer from Deland, Barbara Kenny, who was a close friend of the Wadsworth family.
Wadsworth proudly called himself a “cracker,” and was a man of the earth where he grew up, Flagler County, and especially Bunnell where he made his home for many years.
But he was also urbane, known for his polished rhetoric and oratory that brought acclaim wherever he went, whether it was Tallahassee or at a National Judge’s Conference in another part of the county. His wit and intelligence were always manifest, making it appear he had the world at his fingertips.
Some call him rumpled and a “product of cracker county” and he was. But when he served his first term as a State Legislator, Tick Tuttle, then Capitol Press Bureau Chief, wrote in one of his columns: “Down in Flagler County, which is mostly palm trees, turpentine stills and small farms, Wadsworth is a big name…..William L. Wadsworth is a lawyer and State Representative……but no one would accuse Bill Wadsworth of looking ‘rich.’ He’s something of a sartorial wonder. He always looked rumpled, rather like an unmade bed looking for a sleeper. But Wadsworth’s mind is far sharper than his attire. And his humor contains little barbs or nuggets of wisdom. He’s the closest thing the Legislature has to Will Rogers.”
That look changed in recent years after his family begged him to give up his black suits which had long been his trademark. He started wearing a plaid suit and admitted it made him feel younger.
Pleased as he was, the Judge loped - he never walked - through the Courthouse as if nothing had changed, smiling as he went.
That smile became one of Judge Wadsworth’s trademarks, but only after he lost his first case in Volusia County just after he was graduated from Stetson’s Law School.
As a new member of the bar, he presented his case in a serious mien, talking studiously in tones he thought befitted him as an attorney. That tactic caused him to completely lose the jury and the case. Deflated, the young Wadsworth picked up his papers and was heading back to Bunnell when former Judge - - later Assistant Secretary of the Navy – Francis Whitehair called him to the bench.
Whitehair said: “Do you know why you lost that case, Billy?” Getting a negative answer, the Judge gave Wadsworth some advice he never forgot to use: “Smile. No matter what’s happening, keep smiling and no one will ever know what you are thinking.”
At home, Judge Wadsworth became simply, and most importantly to him, “Papa” to his three girls and later to four grandchildren. He wasn’t a quiet father but vocalized on almost any subject his chose.
His eldest daughter, Susan, followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer then the first woman Judge in Polk County and all of Florida. She garnered and “A” in undergraduate school for her “Vignettes of Papa,” a series of short tidbits about his preference for hot coffee, hatred of musty wash cloths and girls who “took too much time primping in the bathroom.”
The second daughter, Gail, wife of Kenton Shephard, a Deland CPA, remembers “the windows might shake at his wrath, but every outburst was recognized by the family and friends as his special way of just being ‘Papa’ and accepted as an outburst filled with love. In fact, for years I remember calling him ‘Sweet Papa” until we found out the term has a different connotation.
It was Mrs. Shephard who presented the Judge with his first grandchild, a girl named Frances. There are now three more grandchildren, Carson, Webb and Whitney.
Late in life there came a surprise to the entire Wadsworth clan when in 1956, Wilhelmina Littledale Wadsworth was born to Billy and Frances (Because she was so wrinkled she had henceforth been known as Prunie)
This little tyke toddled through the woods with Papa to see the tall pines, turpentine stills and, most important, learning to love Flagler County just like her father.
Judge Billy spent a lot of time in the woods of Flagler County. He was an indefinable “digger.” He searched out the location of old kitchen mittens and attacked them with his trusty shovel, searching for bottles and other relics of days gone by when the area was filled with sugar mills, plantations and settlements.
In August of this year, at the age of 21, Wilhelmina became the 24th member of the Wadsworth family to graduate from Stetson University.
Family man, judicial and prudent, devoted to his beloved Florida and Flagler County, Judge Wadsworth left his mark on the land and its people. He would have been on the bench for 12 years had he lived until the first of the year. His judgments will stand as a symbol of his judicial craft, his family is an honorable mark of love and devoted home life, but in one of the courtrooms of Volusia County there is a unique mark.
At the close of one of Judge Wadsworth’s trials, the defendant was found guilty. He became so enraged when he stood for sentencing that he gathered up all the papers on the desk and flung them into the air, all the way to the ceiling above. There the seemingly impossible happened: the papers lodged firmly in the glass chandelier. Judge Wadsworth just smiled.
Those papers are still stuck in the chandelier, a mark to remind courtroom followers that Judge Wadsworth was here.
At the end of a hearing in his Daytona Beach chambers a couple of months ago, the editor of this newspaper was in another office, commenting to some rival lawyers about the rapidity which Judge Wadsworth had conducted the pre-trial hearing.
In his inner office, Judge Wadsworth heard the comment. He called out: “Gordon, you know I like to work fast. I don’t like any grass grown under my feet.
PALM COAST NEWS
Palm Coast, Florida
Wednesday, October 4, 1978Cracker Justice Lauded At Wadsworth’s Rites
The time was 2 p.m. Thursday. On any other Thursday, said Assistant State Attorney Noah C, McKinnon Jr., circuit court would be convened in Bunnell by Judge William L. Wadsworth.
"Now it is 2 p.m. on this Thursday and we are burying him."
The attorneys, the law enforcement officers and the political leaders came from the three surrounding counties to join the Flagler County citizens and leaders in saying farewell to the former legislator and circuit court judge who made the term "cracker justice" something of which to be proud.
Services, attended by more than 500 people, were held at St. Mark By The Sea Lutheran Church, Palm Coast, and burial was in Hope Cemetery, Old King's Road:
"Judge Wadsworth was my most unforgettable character," said the Rev. Hal Marchman, Central Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, "from the first time we met in· a hallway in Tallahassee where he served in the state legislature."
Marchman joined the pastor, the Rev. Marcus Otterbein, in the service.
Marchman spoke of the late jurist's devotion to his family and his deep interest in Florida history, especially that of the Flagler County area. An outstanding feature, Marchman continued, “'was his compassion for people and his brand of cracker justice. He gave a lot of attention to the rulings he had to make."
Marchman said, "You could not predict Billy Wadsworth. He was a human being who happened to be a judge."
“Judge Wadsworth was the most completely in charge person I have ever known," Otterbein said. He recalled the judge's character, wit and wisdom.
"It is a cliché, but I do believe after God made Billy, he had to throw away the mold. Billy loved his family and his profession. At one time I asked if it bothered him that he was playing God every day, with lives at stake.
"He told me then, 'You have two lawyers to help you make up your mind and sometimes you have a jury. And, if you make a mistake, you have a higher court to reverse you."
The organist was Ray Mercer, postmaster at Bunnell.
The law enforcement officers, headed by the Flagler County Sheriff's Department, formed the guard of honor.
The pallbearers were Major Larry Moody, Capt. C. B. Eisenbach, Attorneys Mel Orfinger, Henry Duffett, Merritt Powell, Phil Johnson and Floyd Johnson.
Honorary pallbearers were all the judges from the seventh judicial circuit and George Newton, Gordon Shiels and Lewis Wadsworth.
BY COUNTY COMMISSION - -Moment Of Silence Observed In Respect For Judge ‘Billy'
A moment of silence was called for out of respect for deceased Judge William "Billy" Wadsworth during the Flagler County Commission budget workshop session Sept. 26.
Chairman Otis Stone Hunter asked for the moment of silence on the suggestion of Mehr Shoemaker, Palm Coast civic leader. Judge Wadsworth died early that morning in his Palm Coast home.
