Albert M. Witte

When I get too old, feeble and senile to recall any of my teachers in school or elsewhere, I will have the most vivid memories and benefits of Al, his wisdom, humor and his teachings on about anything related to law or life, in general, Al Witte is the most outstanding and ranks first among all others (and there were many great teachers there). I knew I was lucky at the time and realize it daily now. I can not imagine law school without you and taking every available class you taught there.

There is very little that I can add to what I have already said, but my memories of Al are fresh in my mind. I will never forget him and I feel so lucky to have had him as a teacher in law school so long ago.

I worked with Al Witte in the U of A Law School and he was a delightful colleague and a much valued faculty leader. He will be sadly missed by all of us who knew him. Our prayers are with his family. With our heartfelt sympathy,

Professor Witte will definitely be missed. Enjoyed visiting and assisting him.

Forever my HERO. Best Friends Forever....loved this super intelligent and fun man.

Al Witte taught me Contracts I and II as well as Constitutional Law. I also had a paper course with him during my 3L year on Modern Contracts Problems. With Dr. Leflar as my Torts and Conflicts professor, these two gentlemen gave me a sound legal education serving me well some 40+ years later.

For many years I worked in the office at the School of Law, so I was privileged to see Professor Witte often. Even when I went from full time to part time he always spoke kindly to me and remembered my name. My sincere condolences to his family.
Jacque Fifer

Professor Witte was a wonderful teacher, a kind man, and a fine intellectual. I'll always remember him with love and laughter.

I had the privilege of learning under the guidance of Professor Witte during my time in law school. He was a wonderful teacher who genuinely cared about his students.

I am saddened to hear of his passing, but please know that he touched many lives and helped to mold several of us into who we are today. I am forever grateful for that semester; it still brings back such fond memories.

God bless you and yours. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

I had the honor of being taught by Al Witte on the subjects of Constitutional Law and Remedies. He demanded your best efforts. I have appreciated that over the years. He also taught with humor, and I appreciate that, too. He made a difference in the lives of his students.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring you comfort.

I've been told that Professor Witte is one of the bridge players in this 1959 Student Union photo. Is that correct?

Al was a close friend of my father, Frank McCutcheon. One afternoon in the 1970's he came over to our house to see my dad. The teenage me was lounging on the sofa, watching tv, in all my hippie chick gloriousness. Al walked into the living room, tossed a VERY heavy Amy Vanderbilt's Book of Etiquette in my lap, and deadpanned "God, I hope it's not too late for you".

In many ways it was. Including my desire to become a lawyer, which was a desire Al encouraged. Upon his advice, I majored in English as an undergrad, with an emphasis in writing. HE was why I majored in English. He was well aware of this fact. So imagine my surprise when he graded down my first Practice Exam in law school with the criticism "You write like an English Major". I stormed into his office, demanding an explanation for that criticism... and he cracked up laughing. Then, satisfied with having pulled a joke over on me, he did give me some serious coaching on how to refocus my writing in a manner calculated to help me as an attorney.

I could go on and on with Al Witte stories. Hundreds of people could. So I'll just end here with saying that Al Witte played an important role in shaping me as a lawyer and as a person. I have hopefully helped a few others along the way, just as he has helped me (although I doubt I have been as witty and clever in how I've gone about it). God bless Al Witte. He's left his mark on a great many lives.

I send my condolences to His family.

I have been Professor Albert Matthew Witte's Secretary since November 2006. During this time he has been an absolute joy to work for. I can honestly say that he has not even one time, been unpleasant in any way to me. I always appreciated the great qualities of Professor Witte. He was always respectful, kind and never condescending, which to me earned him my complete respect and loyalty as his secretary. He was one of the most down to earth, no B.S. person that I have known. I loved all of our visits through the years. He would tell me stories about his childhood. Oh, how he loved and respected his mother and grandmother that raised him. So when he told me that the meatloaf I made him for his birthdays was very much like his mother used to make, I took that as the highest compliment he could have given me. I am going to miss him more than anyone will probably ever know. He was such a remarkable man and I have been so blessed to be able to know him as a friend and to work for him for the past 9 years. Yes, I certainly loved Mr. Albert M. Witte and will miss him very much.
Bridget J. Young

Though I'd grown up with Professor Witte's oldest son, Robert, nothing prepared me for my first day as a law student - in a symposium chaired by Professor Witte. To this day I can remember his inviting yet intense style. He was a great professor and a wonderful man. I'm blessed to have studied under him.

My condolences to everyone in Professor Witte's immense extended family of friends, students, and colleagues. To his children, my heartfelt prayers are with you.

During my freshman year in Al Witte's Contracts class, he discovered I had been a professional musician. At the beginning of the spring semester, he asked me to his office. First question: What grade had he given me for Contracts? I had passed, I said. He said "Good for you! Do you want to be part of the Law School Skit?" With a yes, I became a willing part of Al's alter ego and his amateurish attempt at poking fun at some of his associates on the faculty. Those in the early '70s classes will know what I mean! God bless his family and the students who were fortunate enough to have had him as a teacher. He's truly irreplaceable.

My fonder memories of law school came from the classrooms of Professor Witte. Rest assured, your first impression of Professor Witte was that of a crusty fellow who didn't suffer a fool. But, as time progressed, you discerned a man of superior intellect and unmatched vocabulary who could intertwine the two with, no pun intended, a perfectly dry wit. For many years I have taught and still teach the Legal Environment of Business at a local university, and my students often see my impersonation of Professor Witte gained from my observations in both Contracts and Constitutional Law. I assure you in this case impersonation is the highest form of flattery, as I grew to love and admire Al Witte who graciously requested that I do some legal research for him during my 2nd and 3rd years of law school. There was only one Al Witte, and he will be remembered fondly and forever revered by this former student.

It's impossible to explain in adequate words the influence Prof Witte on myself and so many of his students. He pounded on his desk till we knew contracts back and forth, then gave us hell but loved us all....well maybe some of us!!

I will never forget the kindness and generosity he exhibited to me when I was put on bedrest during my pregnancy of my second year...he had strong words for me...encouraging me not to miss a beat in school. I didn't always like him, but grew to admire him and love him.

Al Witte (King Al) was an inspiration to me. I think I signed up for every course he taught. His was the only class that I tried to never cut.

One of my most memorable experiences in law school was in a class with Professor Witte. He always used to say, "Would you bend down to pick up a dime?" Or would you bend down to pick up a quarter?" Then one day, right after he said this, a student threw a quarter to him. It bounded off a desk and hit the floor nearby Professor Witte. I think it was Kimberly Brown. Needless to say this caused hysterical laughter. Our class made up a t-shirt with the top ten Wittecisms. This was in 1993 or 1994, after he'd mellowed out a lot apparently. It was such a pleasure to be in his class.

Al Witte influenced all of us who had courses with him. After seeing his honorable life in retrospect, it all makes so much more sense; he was a man of great principle and intellect.

I remember my first class with Al Witte. When a student asked him a question, he looked at the whole class and wondered out loud what the average LSAT must be.
His influence made all of us better lawyers.

Prof. Witte is one of my great memories from law school. All of his students consider themselves blessed to have experienced his classes. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. One thing is for sure, he lives on in the hearts and memories of hundreds of U of A Law students!

Al Witte was one of the most entertaining teachers I ever had. He made learning fun and easy.

What an honor it has been to call Al Witte a colleague and friend.

I will not share my Al Witte stories. I suspicion most of the stories, have been told. I will tell his family only that he gave to a gift of advocacy and fairness that I have treasured for almost 50 years in the practice of law. He harassed me in my first year and became my friend in the following. God Bless. Phi

Al Witte: One top of the line professor and advisor. We have lost one of the most dedicated and sinsere in dealing with students and others, law professors I knew at the UA Law School.

Prof. Al Witte was my favorite. He made Contracts fun. The University and the legal community will miss him. R.I.P.

I have a long list of reasons to be grateful for the opportunity to serve as dean of the University of Arkansas Law School. Getting to know Al is high on that list. Lot of good stories that I still remember, lots of good advice that I should have taken. I am fortunate to have known Al as a colleague and friend. Thousands of Arkansas graduates are fortunate to have known Al as a professor and friend.

Forty-one years ago Prof. Witte challenged me and a few of my last semester senior classmates to take his Modern Contract Seminar course. As usual he had done his research and knew that each of us, who he termed "the Lounge Lizards", both needed a seminar to graduate and had dodged his courses for the previous two and one-half years. We signed-up and then enjoyed one of our best law school experiences, due entirely to Witte's interest in his students. He was truly "one of a kind"!

So sorry to hear about Mr. Witte's. He was a tuff teacher but a fair one. He will always be one of the best teacher I had in Law School.

Profesor Witte was a wonderful teacher and mentor. I had him for contracts in 1976 and he made learning fun and entertaining. You have touched many lives!!

Had Al for Contracts, Con Law and Damages. This was during his 2nd & 3rd year to teach. During summer sessions he and I would lunch together at the old union cafeteria. Not only an excellant law Professor but a wonderful person to set around and converse with on any number of subjects.

I have much respect for Professor Witte, as a great law teacher and human being. Though attendance to classes was not my long suit. I did attend his and was always challenged by his knowledge and style. He cut me slack when I needed a hand and asked for nothing but my best in return. My learning from him was a big part of my becoming a trial lawyer and judge.

Al Witte was the best teacher for me in a life filled with various people trying to pound ideas and
knowledge on diverse topics into my thick skull in order to understand them and try to articulate them, as well as execute them in 47 years of law practice. He instilled in me a lifelong interest and love of contracts law. His way with words was superior to any other; and, his entertaining commentary of me, personally, which I read aloud at our annual gathering of Law Review staff and law professors in 1962, so humorously and effectively reduced me to such a pile of rubble that when I finished reading to the group his masterpiece titled "Ode to a Heavy", I wanted to crawl out of the room very quietly and unnoticed. My biggest regret is that I did not save it to review later, as a reminder when needed, but I have never forgotten it. I think that he enjoyed it more than anyone else at the time.

He was my favorite, and it was a privilege and pleasure to have been one of his many students in every law course he taught from September, 1960 until January, 1963. It was an honor for me when he allowed me to be his assistant in his 1961 legal bibliography course he taught, and I attribute to him my enjoyment, appreciation, knowledge and attraction for a law library, using it effectively and doing legal research and writing. His dry wit and sense of humor were second to none. Although I had many excellent law professors in law school, he is the one who influenced me the most in my day to day law practice, thereafter, and I have never forgotten lessons learned from him. I have enjoyed in my old age thinking about being in his classes and the many interesting and enjoyable times. I will never forget those memories and I will always treasure them. How lucky I was to have been one of his students!

The obituary says: "It is possible that several generations of the Universities law students will remember Professor Witte with varying degrees of fondness."

Few things are certain, and I can't count the generations he taught, but if you had Professor Witte's contracts class, you certainly remember him. And, while the impressions may not have been fond in the beginning, they certainly became that way over time as you discovered there was genuine concern under his tough crust and that he made you a better student and lawyer.

My thoughts and prayers are with his entire family, especially Robert. It is undoubtedly a difficult time, but rejoice in how many lives were touched by Professor Witte.

Professor Witte was one of our finest professors that I had the privilege of knowing. Such a wonderful person with so much humor. He will definitely be missed.

I had my first law class ever with Mr. Witte in January of 1965. I still remember the first case, Johnson v. City Cafe, which involved the section of the Statute of Frauds that dealt with a promise to pay the debt, default, or miscarriage of another. The case both flummoxed and fascinated me, reactions to the law that I continue to have more than half a century later. Al's questions and explications made the case come alive and I can still hear his voice as he laid out factual predicates and sprang his traps. I never had a better teacher.

It was my last day of work before moving from L. R. to Texas. I had one last hearing. It was a quiet courtroom. In attendance was only opposing counsel, the Judge, and myself. Or so I thought. As I turned around I noticed Professor Witte sitting on the back row. He didn't stay long. I never found out how he knew I was there, that I had a hearing or why he was there. But it meant a lot. I am proud to say I was a student of Al Witte. Farewell, Professor Witte

I had the pleasure of Mr. Witte's Constitutional Law class in 1978! He was a great teacher who made this class entertaining and unforgettable. All my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Al, You brought laughter, joy and companionship to my life. My children and I will miss seeing you in the Northwoods of Wisconsin -- visiting at the Dump, playing Sheepshead at the Fire House, taking care of minnows for the fishermen and enjoying being together on the cabin's porch.

Al ...I have many fond memories of the great times we had. Staying up all night talking and mostly laughing.. You will be missed by many whose life you effected.Rest in peace my friend

My thoughts and prayers to the family! Jim Hawkins

With great joy I took Professor Witte's Law and Literature class. He had the most blunt, funny commentary about the stories we read in class or life lessons in general. The main thing that I took away from my semester with him was that conversation and making connections with people were to be cherished. I will greatly miss this larger than life man.