TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – A judge who died in Tacoma is being remembered as a star in the courtroom and on the basketball court.
U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess passed away Friday after battling cancer. He was 75.
The 6-foot-1 native of Eudora, Ark., led the nation in scoring in 1960-61, when he averaged 32.4 points per game for Gonzaga. His No. 44 jersey is one of two retired by the Spokane university; the other belongs to NBA great John Stockton.
After two seasons with Hawaii in the American Basketball League, Burgess returned to Gonzaga to attend law school and graduated near the top of his class. He became a federal magistrate judge in 1981 and was elevated to the District Court bench in 1994.
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