David Souter, who spent decades working his way up the ranks of New Hampshire’s legal community before being tapped to sit on the nation’s highest court, died Thursday at his home in Hopkinton. He was 85.
His career on the Supreme Court — including a perceived ideological shift from conservative to liberal, and a surprise retirement at the relatively young age of 69 — had long made him a figure of intrigue to national court watchers. But in New Hampshire, where he lived and continued to work following his retirement from the court, Souter’s legacy is one of kindness, legal acumen and dedication to civil discourse.
“Beyond all he did for this state and his country, he was an extraordinarily honorable, decent, kind person,” said Tom Rath, a longtime friend. “And I will miss him.”
Souter hired Rath in the 1970s when Souter was New Hampshire’s deputy attorney general, before he became the state’s top prosecutor. Rath succeeded him as attorney general when Souter was appointed to the state superior court in 1978. From there, Souter moved to the state Supreme Court, and then to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush nominated Souter to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served for 19 years before announcing his surprise retirement in 2009. Throughout it all, friends say, Souter remained connected to his New Hampshire roots.
“Being on the court didn't change him one iota,” says Bill Glahn, who was also hired by Souter in the New Hampshire Department of Justice — the start of a friendship that endured for 50 years.
“People who knew him knew that he didn't want to be 'Justice Souter': He wanted to be 'David,' ” said Glahn.
Following his resignation from the Supreme Court, Souter returned to New Hampshire and heard cases on the federal appeals court. While he didn’t make many public appearances, Souter would participate occasionally in events geared at improving civics education.
“The support of civic education in the United States, including in this state, is a public problem and a public responsibility, which is second to none,” he told PBS’s Margaret Warner in 2012 during an event in Concord.
But retirement from the court also allowed Souter to devote time to his passions — including hiking and reconnecting with old New Hampshire friends.
“He loved New Hampshire deeply,” says Lucy Hodder, a director at the Franklin Pierce School of Law in Concord. “He loved the mountains. He loved the ocean. He loved the seasons.”
Souter spent much of his life in a quiet farmhouse in Weare, but later moved to Hopkinton. Hodder lived nearby, and said he became a treasured part of the community.
“He was friends with the children, with the adults, with the four-legged creatures,” she says. “He really was cared for and loved.”
Another longtime friend, Ralph Jimenez, said the justice often kept to himself but made an effort to mentor young people interested in the law. When Jimenez’s son Nick was heading to law school, Jimenez asked Souter to meet briefly with his son.
“And that turned out to be a three-hour lunch,” he said.
In addition to his generosity and passion for the law, Jimenez remembered Souter’s more playful side. He said someone once mistook Souter for Stephen Breyer, a fellow Supreme Court justice who also had a home in New Hampshire.
“And [they] asked [Souter] what he liked best about serving on the Supreme Court. And he said, ‘Well, of course, the honor of getting to work with David Souter,’ ” Jimenez recalled, laughing.
