Louis Bechtle
American judge (1927–2024)
title: "Louis Bechtle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1927-births", "2024-deaths", "lawyers-from-philadelphia", "military-personnel-from-philadelphia", "temple-university-beasley-school-of-law-alumni", "judges-of-the-united-states-district-court-for-the-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania", "united-states-district-court-judges-appointed-by-richard-nixon", "united-states-army-soldiers", "united-states-attorneys-for-the-eastern-district-of-pennsylvania", "assistant-united-states-attorneys"] description: "American judge (1927–2024)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bechtle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American judge (1927–2024) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Louis Bechtle |
| image | Louis_Charles_Bechtle.png |
| office | Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| term_start | April 30, 1993 |
| term_end | June 30, 2001 |
| office1 | Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| term_start1 | 1990 |
| term_end1 | 1993 |
| predecessor1 | John P. Fullam |
| successor1 | Edward N. Cahn |
| office2 | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| term_start2 | March 7, 1972 |
| term_end2 | April 30, 1993 |
| appointer2 | Richard Nixon |
| predecessor2 | John W. Lord Jr. |
| successor2 | Marjorie Rendell |
| birth_name | Louis Charles Bechtle |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Audubon, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| education | Temple University (B.S.) |
| Temple University Beasley School of Law (LL.B.) | |
| website | |
| :: |
| honorific-prefix = | name = Louis Bechtle | honorific-suffix = | image = Louis_Charles_Bechtle.png | alt = | caption = | office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | term_start = April 30, 1993 | term_end = June 30, 2001 | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | term_start1 = 1990 | term_end1 = 1993 | predecessor1 = John P. Fullam | successor1 = Edward N. Cahn | office2 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | term_start2 = March 7, 1972 | term_end2 = April 30, 1993 | nominator2 = | appointer2 = Richard Nixon | predecessor2 = John W. Lord Jr. | successor2 = Marjorie Rendell | pronunciation = | birth_name = Louis Charles Bechtle | birth_date = | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Audubon, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | nationality = | party = | otherparty = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | residence = | education = Temple University (B.S.) Temple University Beasley School of Law (LL.B.) | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | religion = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes =
Louis Charles Bechtle (December 14, 1927 – December 22, 2024) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Education and career
Born on December 14, 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bechtle was in the United States Army from 1946 to 1947, then received a Bachelor of Science degree from Temple University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Laws from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1954. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in Philadelphia from 1956 to 1959. He was in private practice in Philadelphia from 1959 to 1962, and in Norristown, Pennsylvania from 1962 to 1969. He was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1972.
Federal judicial service
On February 14, 1972, Bechtle was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge John W. Lord Jr. Bechtle was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 1972, and received his commission on March 7, 1972. He served as Chief Judge from 1990 to 1993, assuming senior status on April 30, 1993, and retiring from the bench entirely on June 30, 2001.
Personal life and death
Bechtle had two wives that predeceased him: Helen O’Donnell and Margaret Beck. Out of the two marriages he had three children. Bechtle died in an assisted living facility in Audubon, Pennsylvania, on December 22, 2024, at the age of 97.
References
Sources
References
- (2001). "Biographical Directory of the Federal Judiciary". [[Rowman & Littlefield.
- {{FJC Bio. 134
- Gutman, Abraham. (2024-12-30). "Louis C. Bechtle, Philadelphia's former U.S. Attorney and chief federal judge, dies at 97".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::