William Sylvester White, ex-Illinois Appellate and Juvenile Court judge, dies

Jet, March 8, 2004

William S. White, 89, a former Illinois Appellate Court judge and a former presiding judge of the Juvenile Court, recently died of heart failure in his Chicago home.

Born in Chicago, White earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago. After he graduated from law school, he married George Vivian Bridgeforth and joined the U.S. Navy. He became one of the Golden Thirteen, the Navy's first 13 Black commissioned officers. After his discharge, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and later was an assistant state's attorney for Cook County.

In 1955 he became deputy commissioner of Chicago's Department of Investigation. In 1961, White served as the director of the Illinois Department of Registration and Education, a post he held until 1964, when he was elected to the Cook County Circuit Court. Four years later, White was appointed presiding judge of Juvenile Court. In 1980, White was sworn in as an Illinois Appellate Court justice.

Survivors include his ex-wife, George; a daughter, Sala Marilyn Steinbach; his longtime companion, Illinois Appellate Court Judge Jill McNulty; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Carolyn, died in 2001.