Oil on canvas, 39 x 23 in., by Peter Stevens, 1983. Location: courtroom, rear.

Born February 23,1926 in Richmond, Virginia.
Died February 28, 2026 in Richmond, Virginia.

Elected by the General Assembly on March 1, 1982 to a 12-year term beginning the same day, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Albertis S. Harrison. Service terminated by retirement in 1991. Returned to service as a senior justice, 2004-2024.

Education:

University of Virginia, B.A., 1946.
University of Virginia, LL.B., 1948.

Other judicial service:

Judge, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, 1967-1982.

Professional career:

Private practice of law in Arlington, Fairfax, and Alexandria, Virginia, 1951-1967.
Adjunct professor of law, George Mason University School of Law.
Adjunct professor of law, University of Richmond (T.C. Williams School of Law).
Faculty, National Judicial College, Reno, Nevada.
Faculty, Appellate Judges Seminar, New York University School of Law.

Military service:

World War II and Korean War (Navy).

Oral history

Sources:

Elected, Journal of the Senate of Virginia, Regular Session 1982, 3380; birth, education, and career, Marie T. Hough, Nancy L. Woolfolk, and Bernadette Brabb, eds., The American Bench: Judges of the Nation, 1989-1990, Fifth Ed. (Sacramento, CA: 1989-1990), 2483; nominated by the Democratic caucus, Celestine Bohlen and Patricia E. Bauer, “Arlington Judge Wins Fight to Fill Va. Supreme Court Vacancy,” The Washington Post, February 10, 1982, B2; military service, transcript of portrait presentation on February 28, 2006, published in 272 Va., xiii-xv; portrait, Library of Virginia portrait files, 2014.