William R. Federici

William R. Federici (July 15, 1917 – September 9, 2009) was an American judge. He was justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court from April 15, 1977 until his retirement on December 31, 1986, serving as chief justice from 1984 until the end of the term.

Career Born in Cimarron, New Mexico, to Italian immigrants, he received an undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico in 1939, and a J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School in 1941. After graduating from law school, Federici became a New Mexico assistant attorney general until 1942, when he began service in the United States Army in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, remaining in service until 1946. Federici was reelected to a full eight-year term in 1988, and became chief justice at the beginning of 1984. On July 23, 1985, Federici confirmed that he would not seek reelection in 1986, retiring from the court at the end of his term.

Personal life and death On May 8, 1945, coincidentally V-E Day, Federici married Elsie Marie Frizell in Springer, New Mexico, with whom he had two sons and two daughters.

He died at his home in Santa Fe at the age of 92.