RENO, Nev. (CN) - U.S. District Senior Judge Edward Reed Jr. died Saturday at 88 at his home in Reno.
Edward C. Reed Jr. was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed in 1979. He was chief judge from 1986 to 1992, when he took senior status. He worked until September 2012.
"He served as a model for all of us and will be fondly remembered," Nevada Chief District Judge Clive Jones said in a statement released by the 9th Circuit.
A World War II veteran, Judge Reed was captured by German soldiers and spent the last year of the war in prison camps.
His wife of 55 years, the former Sally Torrance, died in 2007.
Reed was an expert in water rights law and served as special deputy attorney general of Nevada for water rights litigation from 1967 to 1979. He was the city champion tennis player in Reno in 1951, 1958 and 1959.
Reed High School in Sparks is named after him. He was a member of the Washoe County School Board from 1956 to 1972.
Reed is survived by his sons, Edward of Reno and John of Hollister, Calif.; a daughter, Mary Leon of Derwood, Md.; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by another son, William.Services are pending.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.