Judge Sam C. Pointer Jr. died March 15, 2008

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Judge

Sam C. Pointer Jr. died March 15, 2008

POINTER, JUDGE SAM, JR. Judge Sam C. Pointer, Jr., a nationally-respected

former Federal judge, widely-known and admired for his fairness to all

litigants and their attorneys, died March 15, 2008 at age 73. He is survived by

his loved and loving wife of almost fifty years, a Purse Pointer; his

daughter, Minge Chadwick Pointer; his son, Sam C. Pointer, III; his grandson,

Graham Berkeley Pointer; his sister, Betty Pointer Bankston; and six nieces and

one nephew. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sam C. Pointer and

Inzer Pointer. A Birmingham native, he

was proud of the his heritage, with all eight of his great grandparents having

been born in or moved to Alabama before the Civil War. And yet during the turbulent times of the Civil Rights

Movement of the past 40 years and sweeping changes in our institutions, he

played a major role in seeing that Alabama came to recognize the rights and dignity of all its citizens. At times this

placed Judge Pointer and his family under pressure and criticism from various

segments of the community. He attended Mountain Brook Elementary School and

Ramsay High

School , graduating in 1952. Sam was active in the

Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout with gold palm, Order of the Arrow), held many school

offices and positions at Ramsay, and served as Regimental Commander of the

city's Jr. ROTC program. Attending Vanderbilt University on the Founder's Scholarship, he joined Sigma Chi Fraternity (later being

designated as a "Significant Sig"). Sam received the designation of

Phi Beta Kappa and again held several collegiate offices before commencing law

school at Vanderbilt his third academic year. He transferred to the University

of Alabama Law School in 1955, serving on the Alabama Law School Review and

receiving his J. D. Degree in January 1957 at the top of his class, and was

designated as Order of the Coif. He was admitted to the bar of the State of

Alabama in February

1957. Under a Kenneson Fellowship he attended New York University Graduate

School of Law, graduating in 1958 with an LL.M in Taxation and receiving among

the highest grades ever awarded by NYU. While in

New York he met his bride- to-be, a, on

a blind date in a snow storm. Sam joined the U.S. Army Reserve in Summer 1957,

serving a brief period on active duty and then for a number of years with the

87th Maneuver Area Command, where he rose from private to Warrant Officer, and

to Commissioned Officer, leaving the reserves as a Major when appointed to the

bench. He begin the active practice of law in Summer 1958, joining his father's

Birmingham firm

of Brown & Pointer. Sam remained with this small firm and its successors

for the next 12 years, gaining a reputation as one the bright young-stars of

the profession. He was the first of his age and experience group to be

designated as "av" by dale-Hubbell. Sam became active in the

Republican Party of Alabama in the early 1960's, part of the "young

turks" who believed that the State needed a competitive two-party system.

In the 60's he served the party both as it's General Counsel and as State

Vice-Chairman. He was appointed by President Nixon on October 14, 1970, as

United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. When he took

the oath of office at age 35, he was the youngest person in the country then

serving as District Judge. Published

in The Birmingham News from 3/16/2008 - 3/17/2008

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