William C. Lee, a Fort Wayne native whose law career spanned more than 50 years in northeast Indiana, has died at the age of 85.

Lee, who died Saturday, was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to be the U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Indiana in July 1981. He was sworn in as a federal judge in August.

“I guess you could say I’m very pleased,” Lee told The Journal Gazette after being nominated. “This community has meant a lot to me and has been good to me.”

Lee was born Feb. 2, 1938, in Fort Wayne and graduated from North Side High School in 1955. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1959 before getting his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1962, according to a profile Lee submitted for his 50th class reunion at Yale.

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