Jack Pope | |
---|---|
Retired Texas Chief Justice Jack Pope, aged 97, in his home library, March 2011
|
|
23rd Texas Supreme Court Justice, Chief Justice |
|
In office November 29, 1982 – January 4, 1985 |
|
Preceded by | Joe R. Greenhill |
Succeeded by | John Hill |
Texas Supreme Court Associate Justice, Place 2 | |
In office January 4, 1965 – November 29, 1982 |
|
4th Court of Civil Appeals, Justice | |
In office September 12, 1951 – 1964 |
|
94th District Court, District Judge | |
In office December 16, 1946 – 1951 |
|
Personal details | |
Born |
Andrew Jackson Pope, Jr. April 18, 1913 Abilene, Texas, U.S. |
Died | February 25, 2017 Austin, Texas, U.S. |
(aged 103)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Allene Nichols (d.2004) |
Children | Andrew Jackson Pope III Walter Allen Pope |
Alma mater |
University of Texas School of Law Abilene Christian University |
Profession | Lawyer |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Naval Reserve |
Years of service | 1944–1946 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Andrew Jackson Pope, Jr., known as Jack Pope (April 18, 1913 – February 25, 2017), was an American judge, attorney, author and legal scholar who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.
Pope holds the record of the longest sitting justice in Texas Supreme Court history, having served for 38 years. At the time of his 100th birthday, he was the oldest living former Chief Justice of any supreme court in the United States, as well as the longest living chief justice of any supreme court of any state in United States history.
Pope was born in Abilene, Texas to Dr. Andrew Jackson Pope, Sr., a physician, and Ruth Adelia Taylor, a native of Nebraska. He is a descendant of Andrew Jackson Berry, who fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution. After completing high school in Abilene in 1930, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University) in 1934, where he had served as Students' Association President. Pope then served as a student editor of the Texas Law Review at the University of Texas School of Law, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree and in 1937 was licensed by the bar. In 1938, he married Allene Nichols, an elementary school teacher and graduate of the University of Texas whom he met while attending law school; the couple had two sons.
After obtaining his license to practice law in Texas in 1937, Pope "joined his uncle, former state representative Walter E. Pope," at his law firm in Corpus Christi. His practice consisted of both civil and criminal matters, such as creditors' rights, oil and gas, personal injury, and family law.
He went on to manage his uncle's business, the Highway Transportation Company, a passenger "bus line which operated between Houston, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio." During this time, he was engaged in the legal interpretation of the new transportation regulatory laws, as well as New Deal labor laws.