Henry B. Steagall II

Born in Abbeville, Alabama to Susan Koonce Steagall and Orlando Marvin Steagall, he was a nephew of Congressman Henry B. Steagall, for whom he was named.[1][3] Steagall attended Auburn University, from which he took leave to enlist in the United States Navy, where he became an officer,[4] serving for three years in the Pacific Theater of World War II.[2] After the war, he completed his degree at Auburn, and thereafter received a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1951, where he served on the Alabama Law Review Editorial Board.[1][4]

Steagall entered the practice of law in 1951.[1][2] He served as State Bar Commissioner for the 33rd Judicial Circuit,[1][2] and represented Dale County, Alabama, in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1954 to 1970.[1][2][3][4]

From 1975 to 1979, he was executive secretary to Governor George Wallace and was State Finance Director from 1983 to 1986.[1] In April 1986, Governor Wallace appointed Steagall to a seat on the the Alabama Supreme Court vacated by the retirement of Justice James H. Faulkner, with the appointment becoming effective as of May 1, 1986, and Steagall was subsequently elected to a full term on the court in 1988.[1][3][5] Steagall chose not run for reelection in 1994,[5] retiring from the court on January 16, 1995.[2]

Steagall married Francis Rector of Chilhowie, Virginia, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. He died after an extended illness at the age of 77.[1][2][4]