Law School Mourns the Passing of Longtime Minnesota Judge Warren Plunkett ’48

Warren Francis Plunkett ’48, who served for 26 years as a judge in Minnesota’s 3rd Judicial District, died Dec. 30 in Austin, Minnesota, of complications from pneumonia. He was 98.

Born in St. Paul and raised in Austin from the age of 7, Plunkett received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He was an All-American player on the celebrated Gopher football team that went undefeated and won national championships in both 1940 and ’41. After spending a year playing professional football for the NFL’s Cleveland Rams, Plunkett served in WWII as a U.S. Navy boat group commander in the Pacific theater. He attended the Law School on the GI Bill and was a member of the Minnesota Law Review while working toward his J.D. After graduating cum laude, he joined the family law firm in Austin, where he practiced with his father and three brothers.

Plunkett was appointed to the 3rd Judicial District bench in 1955 by Minnesota Gov. Orville Freeman ’46. He served as president of the Minnesota District Court Judges Association in 1976, and, following his retirement from the bench in 1981, he returned to practicing law; in fact, he kept his license to practice active until 2018.

A man of many interests, Plunkett enjoyed fishing, hunting, travel, coaching youth hockey, and flying (he was an instrument-rated pilot). He was a principal shareholder of the Minnesota Surety and Trust Company as well as the First Heartland Surety Casualty and Insurance Company. In 1959, he and his first wife, Ellie, purchased the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Elam House, a notable exemplar of Wright’s Usonian architectural aesthetic. Plunkett lived in the house for 59 years.