John A. Robertston ’68

Brother Robertson pledged as a freshman in September 1964 and was initiated in March 1965. He served the chapter as Scholarship Chairman in 1965, Vice President in 1966 and President in 1966-67.  He enlisted in the Navy as a Seaman recruit in September 1964 shortly after pledging the House and spent his summers in the Navy in San Diego and Newport, Rhode Island training to become a Naval Officer.

The day of his graduation from the U of A in June 1968, he was commissioned as an Ensign by his father and was ordered to report to active duty in the Naval Security Group.  He served at the Naval Security Station, Washington DC, from June 1968 until early December 1969 when he was ordered to report to CincPac Staff in Honolulu.  He served in the Special Security Office of Admiral John S McCain, CincPac, from January 1970 until late May 1971.

Upon completing his active duty obligations he requested to be released from active duty at Treasure Island in San Francisco, and then spent the rest of the summer in San Francisco courting Nancy Slavick who resided there.  They   became engaged   in August 1971.  John   returned to the UofA in late August and entered law school while Nancy taught elementary school in Eloy.  He received his JD, with distinction in 1974.  Nancy and John were married in San Francisco in January 1972, immediately after his first semester of law school.  Numerous Sig Ep brothers attended their wedding.

John has been with the same law firm in Tucson since he started practicing law in August 1974.  The original firm he joined, merged with Snell&Wilmer in 1989. He is currently the Senior Partner in the Tucson office of the firm. Snell&Wilmer is a full-service business law firm with more than 400 attorneys practicing in nine locations throughout the western United States and in Mexico.  He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, Labor and Employment Law, from 1989 to 2011. He also has performed many pro bono legal services for numerous social services agencies in Tucson.

John and Nancy have three children, Elke, J.B., and Michael.

When asked about Arizona Beta and Sig Ep, Brother Robertson says, “I met Nancy in Tucson in December 1969 through the fraternity. She was a Golden Heart and I was on leave being transferred from Washington DC to Honolulu. Many of my Sig Ep brothers are life long friends. Because my father was a career naval officer, I moved 13 times before coming to the U of A in 1964 and pledging Sig Ep. The Sig Ep House obviously has been extremely important in my life and provided me with my first opportunity to make a permanent group of friends.”