Jack Pope

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 previously held the record for the longest sitting justice in Texas Supreme Court history before current Chief Justice Nathan Hecht surpassed him. Altogether, Pope served on the bench for 38 years, including the District Court, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court. 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. Early life 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. Career