{{Short description|American judge (1925–2023)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Lyle Elmer Strom | honorific_suffix = | image = Lyle Elmer Strom (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska | term_start = November 2, 1995 | term_end = December 1, 2023 | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska | term_start1 = 1987 | term_end1 = 1994 | predecessor1 = C. Arlen Beam | successor1 = William G. Cambridge | office2 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska | term_start2 = October 28, 1985 | term_end2 = November 2, 1995 | nominator2 = | appointer2 = Ronald Reagan | predecessor2 = Albert Gerard Schatz | successor2 = Joseph Bataillon | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|01|06}} | birth_place = Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|12|01|1925|01|06}} | death_place = Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = Creighton University (B.A.)<br />Creighton University School of Law (J.D.) | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes--> | footnotes = }}
'''Lyle Elmer Strom''' (January 6, 1925 – December 1, 2023) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska from 1985 until his death in 2023.
==Education and career== Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 6, 1925,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVFAAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Strom,+Lyle+Elmer%22+1925|title=Supplement to Who's who in America|date=7 June 1987|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|isbn=9780837971001|via=Google Books}}</ref> Strom received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Creighton University in 1950 and a Juris Doctor from Creighton University School of Law in 1953.<ref name="uscourts.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/public/judicial-archive/strom-l-e|title=Strom, Lyle Elmer - District of Nebraska - United States District Court|website=www.ned.uscourts.gov}}</ref> He was a United States Naval Reserve Ensign during World War II, from 1943 to 1946.<ref name="uscourts.gov"/> He was in private practice in Omaha from 1953 to 1985, also serving as an adjunct professor for the Creighton University School of Law in 1958.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://judgepedia.org/Lyle_Strom|title=Lyle Strom - Ballotpedia|publisher=}}</ref> He was a clinical professor at the Creighton University School of Law, in the Robert Spire Intern Program, from 1996 through 2005.<ref name="uscourts.gov"/><ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/strom-lyle-elmer|title=Strom, Lyle Elmer - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref>
==Federal judicial service== On September 27, 1985, Strom was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska vacated by Albert Gerard Schatz. Strom was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 25, 1985 and received his commission on October 28, 1985. He served as Chief Judge from 1987 to 1994, assuming senior status on November 2, 1995. On June 6, 2017, Strom took inactive senior status in December 2017, meaning that while he remained a federal judge, he no longer heard cases or participated in the business of the court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/federal-judge-lyle-strom-to-take-inactive-senior-status-in/article_40c542d6-4b61-11e7-a607-77423b8a7cbf.html|title=Federal Judge Lyle Strom to take inactive senior status in December|first=Emerson Clarridge / World-Herald staff|last=writer|publisher=}}</ref><ref name="fjc.gov"/>
==Observations== Strom stated that his "vision for the law is that we restore the professionalism and civility that were its trademarks when he was admitted to practice…<ref>{{cite web |url=http://staging.innsofcourt.org/Content/Default.aspx?Id=358 |title=The Honorable Lyle E. Strom |website=American Inns of Court |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150216084731/http://staging.innsofcourt.org/Content/Default.aspx?Id=358 |archive-date=16 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Nebraska high school mock trial competition is now named after Strom and is referred to as the Judge Lyle Strom High School Mock Trial Championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omahadailyrecord.com/popup/printPage.cfm?cid=548&sid=1&mid=84&pid=38|title=THE DAILY RECORD - Print View|website=www.omahadailyrecord.com}}</ref>
==Personal life== Strom married Regina Ann Kelly on July 31, 1950. The couple raised seven children until her death on February 1, 2001.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Curtain |first=Eugene |date=2015-03-04 |title=Justice served Lyle Strom remains on bench at 90 |url=https://omaha.com/sarpy/bellevue/justice-served-lyle-strom-remains-on-bench-at-90/article_df5b56bd-be26-5fba-968e-5b851d0a310b.html |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Omaha World-Herald, omaha.com |language=en}}</ref> His daughter, Mary Hawkins, is the current President of Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mary B Hawkins, Bellevue University: Profile and Biography |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/17997442 |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref> She has said of her late father, "He was adamant about treating people with respect, and he modeled that. And there was our work ethic. I don't care what he did, he told us that if a job's worth doing it's worth doing right."<ref name=":0" />
One of Strom's other daughters, Major General Cassie A. Strom, retired in 2015 as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Judge Advocate General Corps. In this position, she was the principal advisor and liaison to The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force on Air National Guard legal matters and provided leadership, strategic planning, and management of the Air National Guard Judge Advocate program. Major General Strom deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina twice and worked a variety of international peacekeeping exercises, serving in the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and acted as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, United States Transportation Command.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Press |date=2023-11-16 |title=Press Release: Kehoe Campaign Launches Veterans for Kehoe |url=https://themissouritimes.com/press-release-kehoe-campaign-launches-veterans-for-kehoe/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=The Missouri Times |language=en}}</ref>
In 1997 Strom's daughter, Susan Frances Strom, died in the Heaven's Gate cult mass suicide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/04/06/two-lives-two-deaths/cab9826d-9d6c-4bbf-908e-1612a0ade066/|title=TWO LIVES, TWO DEATHS|first1=Katherine Boo; Lorraine|last1=Adams|first2=Katherine Boo; Lorraine|last2=Adams|date=6 April 1997|publisher=|via=washingtonpost.com}}</ref>
Lyle Strom died in Omaha on December 1, 2023, at the age of 98.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 December 2023 |title=Honorable Lyle E. Strom |url=https://heafeyheafey.com/honorable-lyle-e-strom/ |access-date=3 December 2023 |website=Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler Mortuaries}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *{{FJC Bio|nid=1388406}}
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Albert Gerard Schatz}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska}}|years=1985–1995}} {{s-aft|after=Joseph Bataillon}} {{s-bef|before=C. Arlen Beam}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska}}|years=1987–1994}} {{s-aft|after=William G. Cambridge}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strom, Lyle Elmer}} Category:1925 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Lawyers from Omaha, Nebraska Category:Military personnel from Omaha, Nebraska Category:Creighton University alumni Category:Creighton University School of Law alumni Category:Creighton University faculty Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Category:United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Category:United States Navy officers Category:21st-century American judges Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:United States Navy reservists