William R. Federici, former chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, died Wednesday at his home on the east side of Santa Fe. He was 92.

Federici was born July 15, 1917, in Cimarron, the son of Narcisco and Divina Federici, who immigrated to the United States from Spezia, Italy, in 1903. For years, his family operated a dance hall in the tiny village of Colfax, five miles south of the once-booming coal-mining town of Dawson.

After Federici graduated from Dawson High School in 1935, his father told him he wanted him to attend college — like Federici's older brother, who went on to become a lawyer and judge.

"The last thing I wanted to be was a lawyer," Federici recalled in a 1993 article in the New Mexico Defense Lawyers Association's newsletter. "I wanted to be a veterinarian or an engineer."

But after graduating from The University of New Mexico, where he supported himself washing dishes while studying history and political science, Federici enrolled at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, where he supported himself working as a janitor.

Graduating in 1941, he returned to Santa Fe to work as an assistant attorney general, then joined the U.S. Army. He served in the anti-aircraft artillery division during World War II. After the war, he worked as an aide to New Mexico's U.S. Rep. A.M. Fernandez in Washington, D.C., then returned to New Mexico to rejoin the Attorney General's Office.

On VE (Victory in Europe) Day, May 8, 1945, he married Elsie Marie Frizell, who had grown up in northeastern New Mexico, and had met Federici on a business trip to Springer. They had four children. Elsie died June 27 of this year after more than 64 years of marriage.

In 1948, after Federici lost a case to J. Oliver Seth, the older lawyer asked him to join his firm, which later became Montgomery & Andrews. Federici spent the next two decades working on corporate, oil and gas, real estate, probate and negligence defense cases. His most memorable case was defending a man who had purchased land on a Tierra Amarilla land grant.

Federici eventually overcame his misgivings about the law. "Aside from the contact with people, which I always have enjoyed, there always seemed to be some respectability that went with the profession," he told the DLA newsletter.

In March 1977, then-Gov. Jerry Apodaca appointed Federici, then 59, to the New Mexico Supreme Court to replace Justice LaFel Oman, who had resigned. The next year, Federici ran for election to the high court and won. In 1983, he was elevated to chief justice with the retirement of Justice H. Vern Payne.

In 1986, after authoring more than 500 opinions, Federici retired from the Supreme Court. He began to spend more time on his boat at Navajo Lake, fishing for trout, northern pike and bass.

In 2000, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals awarded him for "sterling character and unquestioned integrity."

"My grandfather was an inspiration to me, not only as an accomplished professional, but in his personal life as well," his granddaughter Staci Stevens said. "His willingness to help those in need, his sense of humor and his commitment to family were characteristics that I hope to learn from and emulate in my own life."

Survivors include his sister, Ann Martin; children, Linda Stevens, Richard Federici, Larry Federici and wife Lora, and Gina Federici and husband Buck Rackley; grandchildren, Eric Federici and Staci Stevens and husband David Valentino; and great-granddaughter, Carmen Jaye Valentino.

Funeral services are pending.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.