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2012 SESSION

12105508D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 424
Offered February 22, 2012
Celebrating the life of the Honorable Richard Harding Poff.
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Patron—Anderson, Habeeb, Ware, O., Head, Rush, and Yost
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WHEREAS, the Honorable Richard Harding Poff, who represented Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District for 10 terms before his appointment to the Supreme Court of Virginia, died on June 27, 2011; and

WHEREAS, a native of Radford, Richard Poff attended Christiansburg public schools and Roanoke College before joining millions of others of his generation in the war effort as the United States entered World War II; and

WHEREAS, a bomber pilot in the United States Army Air Force, Richard Poff successfully flew 35 missions over Europe and received numerous military decorations for his bravery and skill, including the Distinguished Flying Cross; and

WHEREAS, following the conclusion of the war, Richard Poff returned to the Commonwealth, received a law degree from the University of Virginia, and began his distinguished career in private practice in Radford; and

WHEREAS, while in his late twenties, Richard Poff joined the Eighty-third United States Congress as the Commonwealth’s Sixth Congressional District representative, winning reelection nine times and serving until 1972; and

WHEREAS, during his years of dedicated and conscientious service to his constituents, Richard Poff became an influential member of the House Judiciary Committee and proved to be a champion of tough anticrime legislation, in addition to playing a key role in the drafting and passage of numerous other legislative initiatives; and

WHEREAS, in 1972 Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr., appointed Richard Poff to the Supreme Court of Virginia, a position he held until his retirement in 1988; he continued as a senior justice until 2002; and

WHEREAS, respected for his knowledge of the law, Justice Poff rendered decisions on a variety of matters during his tenure on the Supreme Court of Virginia and made numerous contributions to the Commonwealth’s judicial system; and

WHEREAS, a tireless public servant and man of great integrity, Justice Poff devoted countless hours to his fellow Virginians and countrymen over the course of his life, resulting in a wide body of legislative work and judicial decisions; and

WHEREAS, predeceased by his first and second wives, Richard Poff will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his children and their families; his colleagues on both sides of the aisle; and his many supporters and admirers; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of an esteemed jurist and lawmaker, the Honorable Richard Harding Poff; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of the Honorable Richard Harding Poff as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory and service to the Commonwealth and the nation.