Background
Sterry Waterman was born in Taunton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1901.
Sterry Waterman was born in Taunton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1901.
He graduated from Saint Johnsbury Academy and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1922. He attended Harvard Law School and then moved to Washington, District of Columbia
To accept a position with the federal Commissioner of Immigration while continuing his studies at George Washington University Law School. He passed the bar exam in 1926 needing to complete one course before graduating, ended his studies, and began to practice, first in Washington, Doctorate.C and later in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. Active in Republican politics, he was State"s Attorney for Caledonia County from 1933 to 1937 and Assistant Secretary of the Vermont State Senate from 1933 to 1940.
Vermont"s Senators, Aiken and Flanders, had initially been willing to recommend Gibson, but Gibson preferred to remain on the District Court so that he would not have to leave Vermont.
They then recommended Waterman, who was opposed by conservative Republicans, which caused Eisenhower to request that they submit another recommendation. Aiken and Flanders persisted until Waterman was confirmed by the United States Senate, and he served for 15 years before assuming senior status in 1970.
In 1977 Waterman received his Juris Doctor degree from Vermont Law School, which was conferred after the trustees, faculty and administration agreed that his writings while serving as a judge satisfied the requirements for the course he had not completed before passing the bar examination Waterman was a longtime trustee of both Saint Johnsbury Academy and Vermont Law School, and served as president of the board at each institution.
He died in Saint Johnsbury on February 6, 1984 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Saint Johnsbury.
Waterman received several honorary degrees, including: Dartmouth College (Doctor of Laws, 1963). Harvard Law School (Doctor of Laws, 1969). George Washington University Law School (Doctor of Laws, 1969).
University of Vermont (Doctor of Laws, 1972).
And New York University School of Law (Doctor of Laws, 1979).
He served as general counsel of the Vermont Unemployment Compensation Commission for four years, a delegate to the 1936 Republican National Convention, a member of the commission to investigate the Vermont Court System from 1935 to 1937, and a member of the Vermont Uniform State Laws Commission from 1938 to 1958.