Ted E. Wedemeyer Jr.

Wedemeyer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[1] His father, Ted Sr., was an attorney and politician who served as a Milwaukee alderman, as a civil court judge, and as a Milwaukee County supervisor.[2] Wedemeyer Jr. graduated from Marquette University Law School and worked as a private practice attorney in Milwaukee from 1957 to 1974.[3][4] Wedemeyer was active in Democratic politics; he served on the executive board of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party and chaired Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier's campaign committee.[5][6] In the early 1970s, Wedemeyer was appointed by Maier to chair the Milwaukee Board of Zoning Appeals.[5]

In 1974, Wedemeyer assisted in the development and organization of the Milwaukee Municipal Court, a limited-jurisdiction court hearing city ordinance violations. In November 1974, Maier appointed Wedemeyer as one of the court's first two judges.[5] He served as a municipal judge until 1977, when he was appointed to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court by Acting Governor Marty Schreiber.[3] In 1982, he challenged Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Rudolph T. Randa for his seat on the court's Milwaukee-based District I.[7] Wedemeyer unseated Randa in the April general election;[7] from 1983–85, he served as District I's presiding judge.[3]

In the leadup to the 1988 Milwaukee mayoral election, Wedemeyer was suggested as a possible successor to the retiring Maier, but ultimately did not run.[8] Instead, he was challenged for reelection to the Court of Appeals by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Ralph Adam Fine, who touted his opposition to plea bargaining and defeated Wedemeyer after a contentious campaign.[9] Governor Tommy G. Thompson, a Republican, appointed Wedemeyer to replace Fine on the circuit court.[10]

In 1992, Wedemeyer was returned to the Court of Appeals; he was elected without opposition to a newly created seat in District I.[11] He became the district's presiding judge in the same year, occupying that office until 2007.[3] He sought election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1995 and received support from the Milwaukee press,[12] but failed to survive the February primary election.[13]

Wedemeyer was noted for his involvement in community service activities. Active in promoting soccer in Wisconsin through the Milwaukee Kickers organization,[14] he was inducted into the Wisconsin Soccer Association Hall of Fame in 1992.[15]

Wedemeyer died of lung cancer, while still in office, on July 23, 2008.