Albert J. Engel, Jr.

Albert Joseph Engel, Jr. (March 21, 1924 – April 5, 2013) was an American jurist who sat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1974 to 2013.^[1]

Engel was born in Lake City, Michigan, the son of U.S. Representative Albert J. Engel and Bertha (Bielby) Engel. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Lake City, Muskegon, and Washington, D.C. In September 1941, he attended the University of Maryland, but left in June of the next year and enrolled at the University of Michigan.

Engel left the university in February 1943, and entered the United States Army as a private in the Infantry but was transferred to the Ordnance Department. He graduated at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and went on to command his own bomb disposal unit in the European Theatre of World War II for two years, seeing action in England, France, Belgium, and Germany. He was discharged in April 1946, after attaining the rank of Captain and earning five battle stars.

After World War II, Engel returned to the University of Michigan and received a bachelor's degree in political science. In 1950, he earned his LL.B. degree from the University of Michigan Law School where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi and a senior judge in Law School Court. He was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan on May 31, 1951, and to practice before the United States District Court in 1952.

After one year in Washington, D.C., as Administrative Assistant to Congresswoman Ruth Thompson, Engel returned to Michigan to practice law in what became the law firm of Engle and Engel until his election as Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit of Michigan in 1966. He and his father were active in the management of a Christmas tree farm known as Engelwood Plantations in Lake City, Michigan, from his return from the service until his appointment to the federal bench.

On December 18, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Engel to the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan to a seat vacated by W. Wallace Kent. Engel entered duty on 21 January 1971. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Nixon in December, 1973, taking the oath of office on 4 January 1974. Judge Engel became Chief Judge on 1 April 1988, and served until 1 October 1989, when he assumed senior status. He closed his office on 31 December 2002. The U. S. Courts Library in Grand Rapids was officially named the Albert J. Engel U. S. Courts Library on 19 December 2003.

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