William A. King Jr., 90, a lawyer and former Philadelphia jurist, died March 3 of complications of a stroke at his home in Chestnut Hill.
Judge King served for more than three decades in Common Pleas Court, U.S. District Court and Philadelphia Municipal Court. In 1973 he was appointed regional counsel to the Federal Energy Administration for the sector that included Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Born and raised in Eddystone, he was a graduate of Eddystone High School. When he was rejected by the Army for a heart murmur, he enlisted in the Navy and served in World War II as a signalman third class in the Pacific Theater.
After the war, he attended what was then La Salle College, graduating in 1948. He received his law degree from Temple University in 1953. He served as a real estate tax assessor for the City of Philadelphia from 1854 to 1962. He founded the firm of King & Gannon with his friend James F. Gannon in 1963.
He was appointed a federal bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1975 by President Gerald R. Ford. He was appointed and later elected to Municipal Court in the 1990s. He retired in 1996 at the age of 70, but returned as a senior judge and retired for good in 2006.
Judge King was recognized by City Council on his 90th birthday for more than 30 years of distinguished service.
He is survived by his wife, the former Marie Louise Rosato; daughters Margaret Mary King, Marie L. King Wolfe, Anne L., Bridget A. King Crooks, and Stephanie A.; sons William A. III and Ernest R.; a sister; 17 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated March 8 at Our Mother of Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill, with interment in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham. Memorial donations may be made to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, c/o St. La Salle Auxiliary, Box 238, Lincroft, NJ 07738. – WF
