William Uhle (Madison, 1970)

Bill UhleBill Uhle

William Uhle (Madison, 1970)
School: Madison Graduation Year: 1970

Year Inducted: 2020

Sport Played: Golf

High School Honors: 4 Golf Letters. On PIL Championship team all four years; on State championship team as a Seniorand All-State selection as Junior and Senior. 3rd place individual in State tourney as a Senior; 4th place as Junior. Won OregonGolf Assn. Championship for 14-15 year-olds; OGA match play semi-finals both years for 16-17 year-olds. Won MetroInvitational by 13 strokes as a Senior while his team won the championship. Hogan Cup Team as a Senior. Boys LeaguePresident.

Post High School Career: Stanford University, BA degrees in Economics and Political Science, 1974. On golf squad fouryears. University of Oregon College of Law, JD degree 1977. Criminal defense attorney for 40 years and over 1,000 jury trials with Thuemmel & Uhle firm in Portland. Presently retired.

Commentary:

My strongest influence was my father. My dad, Al Uhle was a three-sport athlete at Jefferson High School. He instilled a love of sports early in my life and coached most of our grade school teams.

Because he was a busy surgeon, most of our practices were held very late, until it was dark or they kicked us out of the gym. He never complained, but he didn’t get to eat his dinner until after practice, about nine o’clock. My dad constantly encouraged us to play fair. To learn to win the right way, he encouraged us to play all the neighborhood sports as we could. These pickup games would not only hone our skills, but also develop a strong sense of fair play.

I was much better at golf than the traditional school sports, so golf became my focus. I learned, from high school athletics, that hard work, preparation for contingencies, and making snap decisions would be the route to winning. As a lawyer, I realized the same skills and preparation would apply to jury trials. I applied what I learned in high school athletics to every aspect of my life.

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