Background

Decker, Bernard Martin was born on April 2, 1904 in Highland Park, Illinois, United States. Son of Martin C. and Florence (Bryant) Decker.

Education

Student, Northwestern University, 1922-1923; Bachelor of Arts, Univercity Illinois, 1926; Bachelor of Laws, Harvard, 1929.

Career

Born in Highland Park, Illinois, Decker received an A.B. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1926 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1929. He was in private practice in Waukegan, Illinois from 1929 to 1951. He was a law clerk to judge on the Appellate Court of Illinois from 1944 to 1948.

He was an Illinois circuit court from 1951 to 1962. On December 12, 1962, Decker received a recess appointment from President John F. Kennedy to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois created by 75 Stat. 80. Formally nominated on January 15, 1963.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 28, 1963, and received his commission on April 2, 1963. He assumed senior status on April 2, 1980. Decker served in that capacity until his death, on November 3, 1993, in Chicago, Illinois.

Achievements

• Bar: Illinois bar 1929.

Membership

President board education Waukegan Township High School, 1946-1949. Member Harvard Law Society Chicago (president 1964-1965), American Bar Association, Illinois Bar Association, Lake County Bar Association (president 1955), Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Tau Delta.

Connections

Married Louise Armstrong, August 15, 1928. Children– Janine L. (Mistress Jack G. Collins), Martin C. World War II.

father:

Martin C. Decker

mother:

Florence (Bryant) Decker

spouse:

Louise Armstrong

child:

Martin C. World War II Decker

child:

Janine L. Decker (Mistress Jack G. Collins)