Thomas Morrow Reavley (June 21, 1921 – December 1, 2020) was an American jurist, who was a Senior United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

(and the oldest serving federal judge) at the time of his death.

Education and career

Reavley was born in Quitman,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1942. While at the University of Texas, he was a member of the Tejas Club. He was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1942 to 1946. As a naval lieutenant, Reavley drove President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

to Roosevelt’s meeting with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin at the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

. After World War II, he received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1948. He later received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in 1983. He was an assistant district attorney of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas from 1948 to 1949. He was in private practice of law in Nacogdoches, Texas from 1949 to 1951. He was a county attorney of

Nacogdoches County Nacogdoches County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 64,653. Its county seat is Nacogdoches. The Nacogdoches, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Nacogdoches County. N ...

, Texas in 1951. He was in private practice of law in

Lufkin Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas and the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and about 60 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border. Its estimated population is 35,021 as of July 1, 2019. Lufkin was founded ...

, Texas from 1951 to 1952. He was in private practice of law in

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

, Texas from 1952 to 1955. He was Texas Secretary of State from 1955 to 1957. He was in private practice of law in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas from 1957 to 1964. He was a Judge of the 167 Judicial District in Austin, Texas from 1964 to 1968. He was a justice of the

Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

from 1968 to 1977. He was in private practice of law in Austin from 1977 to 1979. He was a Special Judge of the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges. Article V of ...

in 1978.

Federal judicial service

Reavley was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

to the

on May 17, 1979, to a new seat created by 92 Stat.1629. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on July 12, 1979, and received commission on July 13, 1979. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on August 1, 1990.

Personal life

Reavley married fellow Fifth Circuit judge

Carolyn Dineen King Carolyn Dineen King (born January 30, 1938, in Syracuse, New York) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her chambers are in Houston, Texas. Education and career Born in Syracuse, N ...

in August 2004. He died on December 1, 2020 at the age of 99.

References

Sources

*
University of Texas Law Library biography
1921 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American judges United States Navy personnel of World War II Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Military personnel from Texas People from Quitman, Texas Texas state court judges Justices of the Texas Supreme Court United States court of appeals judges appointed by Jimmy Carter University of Texas at Austin alumni Secretaries of State of Texas United States Navy officers {{US-federal-judge-stub