Leo Killion; Lawyer Wrote ‘Hut Sut’ Song

Leo Killion, 92, attorney and writer of “The Hut Sut Song.” A native of Towner, N.D., Killion grew up in Minneapolis, where he heard Swedish folk songs that he later spoofed in nonsense lyrics. Written in 1939 by Killion, Ted McMichael and Jack Owens, “The Hut Sut Song” was recorded and popularized by the Freddy Martin Orchestra and the Horace Heidt Orchestra. It was sung by the Merry Macs in the 1941 movie “San Antonio Rose.” More than a decade later, it was featured in the landmark World War II film “From Here to Eternity.” Sung by such Swing Era and wartime favorites as Dinah Shore and the Andrews Sisters, the song included such lyrics as “Hut Sut Rawlson on the rillerah and brawla, brawla sooit.” A graduate of the University of Minnesota and UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, Killion served aboard the liberty ship William Hume during World War II and then became a labor lawyer. Killion was an early advocate of no-fault automobile insurance for California. On Oct. 24 in Mill Valley, Calif.