Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Edwin H. SATTERTHWAITE
Edwin H. Satterthwaite, 81, a retired president judge of Bucks County Orphans' Court who made an important antidiscrimination ruling, died Friday of emphysema at the Pennswood Village retirement community in Middletown Township.
Judge Satterthwaite was appointed to Bucks County Court in 1951, ``and at the time was the youngest judge in Pennsylvania,'' said his wife of 55 years, Irma Nachod Satterthwaite. He was reelected in 1952 and in 1962.
In 1963, he was appointed president judge of the newly created county Orphans' Court. He was reelected in 1965 and 1975, then retired several years later.
``In all of his elections,'' his wife said, ``he was endorsed by both [political] parties, and for [several] years after his retirement he continued to serve on call around the state as a senior judge.''
Judge Satterthwaite was ``a man with a quick mind and a comprehensive knowledge of the law,'' said Bucks County District Attorney Alan Rubinstein. ``He could be impatient as he waited for lawyers to catch up with him and incredibly caustic with those who came to court poorly prepared.
``I practiced in front of him, and he was a judge's judge. He was fair, he was impartial, and always ready to make the proper decision.''
He displayed those attributes in his early days on the bench when, in 1952, he issued a permanent injunction barring seven Levittown residents from harassing the first black family to move into that community.
Judge Satterthwaite was born in Doylestown Borough and lived there until he moved to Pennswood Village in 1986.
He was a 1933 graduate of The George School in Middletown Township and a 1937 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., where he was named to Sigma Xi, a scientific honorary society.
In 1940, he earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a member of Phi Alpha Delta, a legal fraternity, and the Alpha Tau Omega social fraternity.
He was a member and a former director of the Horsham Friends Meeting.
A Mason for half a century, Judge Satterthwaite belonged to the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia.
His community involvement included serving as president of the Bucks County Boy Scout Council, which honored him with a Silver Beaver award, and membership in the Rotary Club. He did volunteer work for Doylestown Hospital, the Meals on Wheels program and the American Red Cross.
At Pennswood Village, he was a director and secretary of the residents' association.
After he retired, ``he became an expert in restoring old clock mechanisms to full, accurate, working order and kept them so,'' his wife said. ``He had also studied locksmithing as a hobby.''
Judge Satterthwaite also is survived by children Edwin H. Jr. and William; a sister; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service was to be scheduled at Pennswood Village. Burial was private.
The family suggests contributions to the American Lung Association, 525 Plymouth Rd., Suite 315, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. 19462, or to Fellowship Fund, c/o Pennswood Village, 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Rd., Newtown, Pa. 18940-2401.
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