Viewing Stephen H. Somsen (1877-1936).Stephen H. Somsen (1877-1936).Stephen Herbert Somsen, a graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Law, moved to Winona in 1900, and joined the firm of Brown & Abbott, later Brown, Somsen & Sawyer, which had a large corporate clientele. He was judge of the municipal court over a decade and a member of county and state bar associations. When he died on December 15, 1936, at age fifty-nine, he was eulogized less for his success at the bar than for his quarter century of service on the State Teachers College Board. He was the Board's liaison with the Legislature, drafted bills that became law, and helped plan the construction of dozens of new buildings for teachers colleges in the state. During his tenure, 1909-1933, he missed only five meetings of the Board. When declining health forced his resignation, the students and faculty of Winona Teachers College passed a resolution of appreciation:
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