William G. Batchelder Jr.

William G. Batchelder, Jr. passed away May 7, 2011.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 30, 1914, and moved with his parents to Medina, Ohio, in 1929. He graduated from Medina High School in 1932, in the top of his class, and was awarded a college scholarship of $200 against his tuition of $226.50. He chose to attend Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1936, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors in his junior year, and being elected to the men's honorary Omicron Delta Kappa, and the oratory honorary, Delta Sigma Rho. In his senior year at Ohio Wesleyan he was awarded an academic scholarship to the University of Cincinnati Law School, where he excelled in his studies, graduating in 1939.

After passing the Ohio bar exam, he returned to Medina and opened his own office for the private practice of law in August 1939. Five months later, he decided to run for the position of Medina County Prosecutor in the Republican primary of 1940, against the then-current prosecutor and the immediate past prosecutor. He won the primary, went on to win the general election, and served as Medina County Prosecutor from 1941 to 1953.

In 1942, while still serving as Prosecutor, Mr. Batchelder enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and was soon shipped to the South Pacific. He was stationed first in Australia in the quartermaster division, then in New Guinea in the judge advocate general division, rising to the rank of a five-stripe sergeant. At the end of World War II, having served overseas for three years, he left for home on the day the peace treaty was signed. Back in Medina, he was greeted by his wife, Eleanor, and his son, William III, who had been born in 1942, shortly after William Jr. left for the war. Mr. Batchelder settled into the home on East Washington Street, which Eleanor had acquired while he was in the South Pacific; he resided there until his death.

Having been overwhelmingly re-elected as Prosecutor in 1944 while on active duty in the South Pacific, Mr. Batchelder plunged back into his prosecutorial duties, successfully trying case after case, while also serving as the chief legal advisor to the county, the townships, and each township's school board. He tried and won two capital murder cases, which brought him national attention. In one, a young man had drugged his date with ``Spanish fly,' and ultimately killed her in a faked suicide to cover up his crime. In the other, he won the conviction of both the shooter and the mastermind in a love triangle case involving a foreign war bride. Several years ago, this case was chronicled in a seven-day series in The Gazette.

Mr. Batchelder also devoted much time and energy to volunteer civic causes. He was elected a director of the Medina Chamber of Commerce in 1946. As director, he promoted the idea of off-street parking behind the commercial buildings on the Medina Square, an idea whose virtue was not recognized until many years later. He served as scoutmaster for the Baptist Church Boy Scout troop, eventually becoming chairman of all of the Medina County Boy Scouts. Under his leadership, the Boy Scouts' Chippewa District was organized, and that district still serves scouts in Medina and Wayne Counties today. He was elected chairman of the Medina County Rent Control Committee in 1946, where, true to his conservative roots and his economics training, after due deliberation, his first act as chairman was to persuade his fellow board members to abolish rent control in Medina County.

Mr. Batchelder expanded his Masonic memberships, originally conferred in Australia, joining the blue Lodge (Council chapter), Knights Templar, and the Scottish Rite. He became a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason.

Mr. Batchelder was elected president of the Medina County Bar Association in 1952, and was elected to the Medina City School Board of Education, serving from 1961 to 1965. He served as chairman of the finance committee of the Medina Community Chest, the forerunner of the United Way of Medina County. He was a long-time trustee of the Medina Community Hospital, now part of the Cleveland Clinic, and chairman of the Medina County Republican Party Executive Committee in both the 1950s and the 1980s. For 14 years, he served as a director of the Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, now the Westfield Group.

For nearly six years during the 1950s, Mr. Batchelder was a trial attorney with Thompson, Hine & Flory, a prominent Cleveland law firm. In 1957, he returned to Medina to join Harold Williams at Weber and Williams, which became Williams and Batchelder. He continued in the practice at Williams and Batchelder, trying cases - the work he loved - until he retired from the firm at the age of 93.

William Batchelder and Eleanor, his beloved wife of 63 years, raised a large and active family. Bill III served for 30 years in the Ohio House of Representatives, and, after a six-year stint on the Ohio Court of Appeals, was again elected to the Ohio House where he now serves as Speaker. His wife, Alice, is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Drew Batchelder is an editor in New York City and a frequent teacher at American schools in Europe. Barbara Massie lives in Columbus where she is an active volunteer in numerous civic enterprises. Kathryn Cashman resides in New York with her husband Gideon, a prominent trial attorney. Kathryn contributes generously of her time and talent to many civic boards and organizations. John Batchelder is a corporate attorney for the Westfield Group. His wife Kathy is the Organizational Learning and Development Consultant at the University of Akron. Mr. Batchelder is also survived by six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and brother, Alan Batchelder of Virginia.

Service will be held Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 12 Noon at the Waite & Son Funeral Home, 765 N. Court St., Medina. Burial will take place at Spring Grove Cemetery. Family will receive friends at the funeral home Friday, 4 to 9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of Medina County, 797 N. Court St., Medina, Ohio 44256.