Albertt. Frantz

• Jurisdiction: Colorado,United States
• Citation: Vol. 25 No. 7 Pg. 17
• Pages: 17
• Publication year: 1996

25 Colo.Law. 17 Colorado Lawyer 1996.

1996, July, Pg. 17. ALBERTT. FRANTZ

---

17

Vol. 25, No. 7, Pg. 17

ALBERTT. FRANTZ

by John L. Livingston and William S. Fleming

John L. Livingston and William S. Fleming are sole practitioners in Lakewood, Colorado. Both are former shareholders with Al Frantz in the then firm of Tinsley Frantz, Fleming and Livingston, P.C.

As we ponder how to best relate our feelings regarding someone deservedly among the outstanding lawyers in Colorado, honored in these pages, we are compelled to review the words written in previous years about others who have shared the honor. All have shared the fate of being gone for ten years. They also have shared traits of honesty and integrity. They had principles and ideals. They have earned respect. Many were described as being "a lawyer's lawyer." These were not those of whom lawyer jokes were told. They were respected and vital cogs in our state. Such a man was Albert Thibeau Frantz.

The Early Years

A native Coloradan, Al Frantz was born in Denver, December 9, 1903. His early years were spent in Longmont. He attended Saint Elizabeth's Grade School, Cathedral High School and Regis College in Denver. While attending Regis College, he was a trailer-hound for the old Denver Tramway Company. He received the first scholarship from the Denver Notre Dame Club and graduated from Notre Dame with a law degree (cum laude) in 1929.

Not being born into wealth, he contributed to his tuition by waiting tables. He also had the opportunity to play football under legendary coach Knute Rockne. However, he would admit to riding the bench (the perfect judicial training?) most of the time, as Notre Dame had a star running back at the time named Frank Leahy. Al's most treasured honor was being named Notre Dame's Man of the Year in 1963.

He was admitted to the bar in Indiana in 1929. Showing his early tendency to get involved, he became Secretary of the South Bend Bar Association in 1933. In June 1929, he married Dorothy Spry, and they started their family. By 1936, the heat and humidity, or cold and humidity, of South Bend could no longer be tolerated. A return to Colorado was in order. He opened his general practice in Denver, which he continued until 1952.

The Justice

The law was paramount to him. When the cry of politics came, the judiciary was the only option to be considered. In 1952 he was elected to the Denver District Court and...