A Memorial for
William E. Kretschmar
By Lawrence R. Klemin
This memorial was presented on July 25 at the
Uniform Law Commission Annual Meeting in
Louisville, Ky.
William E. Kretschmar (Bill) was born in
St. Paul, Minn., on Aug. 21, 1933, the son
of William E. Kretschmar and Frances
J. (Peterson) Kretschmar. Bill grew up in
Ashley, N.D., and graduated from Ashley
High School in 1949. He received his
bachelor’s degree from the University of
St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., graduating
magna cum laude in 1954. He received his
juris doctorate degree from the University of
Minnesota, graduating cum laude in 1961.
While in law school, Bill served as a senior
editor of the Minnesota Law Review.
After graduation from law school, Bill
returned to his home in Venturia, located
in south central North Dakota about three
miles north of the state line with South
Dakota. He was admitted to the practice of
law in North Dakota in 1961 and entered
into a law partnership with his cousin, Bruce
E. Kretschmar, in Ashley, the county seat
of McIntosh County. Venturia is located
about 11 miles southwest of Ashley and had
a population of 10 according to the 2010
census. The population of Ashley was 749.
Bill was active in his community and was
a member of St. David’s Catholic Church,
the Elks Lodge, and the Fraternal Order of
Eagles. He was a past president of the Ashley
Lions Club, Ashley Jaycees, and a former
board member and president of the Ashley
Medical Center.
In the 1960s, many North Dakotans
believed the North Dakota Constitution
of 1889 needed modernization. The House
and Senate passed a resolution in the
1969 Legislative Session authorizing a
constitutional amendment calling for the
second Constitutional Convention. The
Convention was approved by the
voters in 1970 and 98 delegates were
then elected to attend the Convention.
Bill was one of only 14 lawyers elected
as delegates to the Constitutional
Convention. He was 37 years old
at that time. Following 16 special
public hearings in 1971 and 1972,
and intense public debate about the
revisions, the revised Constitution was
approved by the Convention and was
then submitted to a vote of the people
in April 1972, where it was soundly
defeated. This was Bill’s first personal
experience with being elected to an
office and working on constitutional
amendments. But it was not to be his last.
Although he grew up, lived, and worked in a
small rural farming community, Bill became
widely known in the state through his service
in the North Dakota Legislature. He was
first elected to office in the North Dakota
House of Representatives in 1972 after his
experience in the Constitutional Convention
and served a total of 40 years. He served as
a state representative in the North Dakota
Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1998
and again from 2001 to 2016. He had a
brief hiatus from the Legislature for two
years when he was defeated for re-election
in 1998. He regained his seat with his re-
election in 2000. During his time in office
in the House of Representatives, Bill served
in many leadership capacities. He served as
assistant majority leader, as chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee, chairman of the
Committee on Correction and Revision of
the Journal, and as a member of the House
Political Subdivisions Committee, House
Constitutional Revision Committee, and the
House Rules Committee. He was the House
Parliamentarian. In 1989, during North
Dakota’s Centennial year, Bill was elected
Speaker of the House and represented the
Legislature in many Centennial activities.
Bill was appointed to the Uniform Law
Commission in 1987 and served as a long-
time legislative liaison. He was a member of
the drafting committee to Amend Uniform
Probate Code Article VI.
During his 40 years in the Legislature, and
through the sponsorship of many legislative
bills and constitutional amendment
resolutions, Bill managed to put into law
many of the constitutional revisions that
had been defeated by the voters in 1972.
The voters proved to be more receptive to
amendments made gradually over many
years, rather than a major amendment of the
entire Constitution at one time. Numerous
revisions were also made to the North
Dakota statutes in order to incorporate some
of the defeated constitutional amendments.
Bill remained a single man throughout
his life. He was preceded in death by his
parents and his law partner. He is survived
by many cousins. He is buried in the
Venturia Lutheran Cemetery in Venturia.
Although now deceased, his legacy in the
North Dakota Legislature lives on. He is
well remembered by his many friends and
colleagues.
FALL 2018
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