Richard Carl Wilbur (July 1, 1936 – December 27, 2020) was a judge of the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a Federal judiciary of the United States, federal trial court court of record, of record established by US Congress, Congress under Article One of the United States Constitution, Article ...

from 1974 to 1986.

Early life and education

Born in

Otisville, New York Otisville is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 969 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Kiryas Joel, New York, Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie–Newburgh ...

, to Rosemary and Edwin R. Wilbur, Wilbur attended public schools in Otisville, graduated from Otisville High School in 1954, and received a B.S. from

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

in 1958.''Official Congressional Directory'' (1979), p. 748. While in college, Wilbur played on the school basketball team, where he was "an integral integral part of three postseason appearances for Manhattan", averaging 10.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his senior year and serving as "a key member of Manhattan's 1958 NCAA Tournament run". He received an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. The school enrolls about 600 students and in addition to the J.D. ...

in 1962, where he was a staff member of the ''Notre Dame Lawyer'', and a member of Gray's Inn and the Student Law Association. He also attended Harvard University's

Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

for one year pursuant to a congressional staff fellowship awarded by the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...

Career

Wilbur was a tax attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel from 1962 to 1964. From 1965 to 1969, he was assistant minority counsel to the

United States House Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other progr ...

, then served as minority counsel to that committee from 1969 to July 1974. During his service to the committee, he "worked on major legislation in the areas of Tax, Trade, Social Security, welfare reform, and enactment of Medicare and Medicaid". On June 7, 1974, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

nominated Wilbur to the United States Tax Court for a 15-year term. Wilbur retired from the Tax Court in 1986."Senate Panel Approves U.S. Tax Court Nominee", ''Anderson Independent-Mail'' (September 24, 1986), p. 4.

Personal life and death

Wilbur married Joan Paterson in 1959, with whom he had two children, daughter Michelle and son Carl. He died at the end of 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbur, Richard C. 1936 births 2020 deaths People from Otisville, New York Manhattan College alumni Notre Dame Law School alumni Judges of the United States Tax Court United States Article I federal judges appointed by Richard Nixon