Ralph T. Catterall

Ralph Tunnicliff Catterall (14 March 1897 – 8 October 1978), judge of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Harvard University. During World War I he was a second lieutenant in the United States Army.

After completing law school, Catterall joined a law firm in New York City. In 1924 he moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he practiced law and taught part-time at the T. C. Williams School of Law of the University of Richmond from 1924 to 1949. He was most highly regarded for his expertise on constitutional law.

On 14 April 1949 the governor appointed Catterall to the State Corporation Commission to fill an unexpired term. Catterall served until 1973 and had an enduring influence on the SCC, especially the banking section. He was very critical of the Supreme Court of the United States' rulings on desegration of the public schools.

Catterall is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

Sources

• W. Hamilton Bryson, ed., Legal Education in Virginia, 1779–1979: A Biographical Approach (1982), 127–131.
• Commonwealth 16 (May 1949): 20–21.
• John T. Kneebone et al., eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography (Richmond, 2006), 3:126-127.