Leroy R. Hassell, Sr.

Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. (August 17, 1955 – February 9, 2011),^[1] was a Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court and the first African-American Chief Justice of that Court, serving two four-year terms from February 1, 2003, to January 31, 2011.^[2] He was succeeded by the current Chief Justice, Cynthia D. Kinser. Hassell was a 1973 graduate of Norview High School of Norfolk, Virginia, where he was voted "most likely to succeed". He also served on the Board of Visitors of the Regent University School of Law.^[3]

Hassell attended the University of Virginia for his undergraduate degree, where he earned a BA in 1977. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1980. After law school, Hassell worked for the Richmond branch of McGuire Woods, where he was made a partner in seven years.

Hassell was appointed to the Virginia Supreme Court in 1989 by Governor Gerald Baliles. He then was elected Chief Justice by his peers on the court in 2002. He became the first African–American Virginia Chief Justice on February 1, 2003. Hassell was ill during most of the final year of his service as Chief Justice and did not sit in the final session of the Court in January 2011. The court announced on February 9, 2011, that Hassell had died.^[4] The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the cause of death was complications from lymphoma.

Hassell's body lay in state February 11 in the Rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol, his casket draped with the flag of Virginia. He was the first African–American person in Virginia to be accorded that honor. He was survived by his widow, two daughters, a son, and a grandchild.^[5] He was interred on February 12, 2011, at Greenwood Memorial Gardens Cemetery following a memorial service at Faith Landmark Ministries.^[6]

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