Robert L. Hunter

Robert Lee "Merle" Hunter (1898–July 28, 1997) was an American judge, lawyer, politician, and athlete best known for serving as the presiding judge of the Divorce Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County from the court's re-creation 1964 until his retirement in 1979. In the 1920s, Hunter played collegiate American football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and professional football in the NFL. He also wrestled for the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team, winning a Big Ten Conference title. He served as president of the Illinois Civil Service Commission for approximately eight years in the 1940s, and was the Republican Party's nominee for mayor of Chicago in 1951. Despite his long affiliation with the Republican Party, he was nominated for a Cook County Superior Court judgeship by the Democratic Party in 1962, and won election. He continued as judge after Cook County consolidated its court system into a single Circuit Court two years later. Provided by Wikipedia