Home County: St. Louis County
Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: July 1982 - May 1985
Judge George Gunn Jr. was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas.[i] He grew up in St. Louis and graduated from high school in Clayton, Missouri.[ii] He attended Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and graduated in 1950 with his undergraduate degree.[iii] He then attended law school at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and graduated in 1955.[iv]
Gunn practiced with the law firm of Rebman, LaTourette & Gunn.[v] During that time, he also served as the city attorney for Brentwood, Missouri, and worked as an attorney for the Wabash Railroad Co. and the Terminal Railroad Association.[vi] In 1971, Gunn served as St. Louis County counselor for two years.[vii]
In 1973, Governor Christopher Bond appointed Gunn to the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis, where he served nine years and was renowned for his written opinions.[viii] In 1982, Governor Bond appointed Judge Gunn to the Supreme Court of Missouri.[ix] Judge Gunn had served at the Supreme Court of Missouri for three years when he nominated by President Ronald Reagan, in 1985, to fill the position of United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.[x] He presided over various significant cases as a federal judge, including “the establishment of the Katy Trail; which was the longest criminal trial in district’s history.”[xi] Judge Gunn also presided over cases involving vocational education and school desegregation while on the federal bench.[xii] He served on the federal bench for 13 years until he took senior status.[xiii]
Judge Gunn was a member of numerous legal organizations, including the American Bar Association, The Missouri Bar, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Lawyers Association of St. Louis and Washington University Law Alumni Association.[xiv] While a member of the Washington University Law Alumni Association, Gunn was a member of its executive committee and served as its president from 1972 to 1973.[xv] Additionally, he was an honorary recipient of Order of the Coif at Washington University School of Law and received the Alumni Achievement Award at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.[xvi]
Judge Gunn died May 20, 1998, in St. Louis.[xvii]
[i] “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1998).
[ii] “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1998).
[iii] Michael R. Montgomery, “George Gunn is sworn in as federal judge,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat (1985).
[iv] Tim Bryant, “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (1998).
[v] “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (1998).
[vi] Associated Press, “Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies.” St. Louis- Daily Record (1998).
[vii] Tim Bryant, “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (1998).
[viii] “Excellent Supreme Court Appointment.” St. Louis Globe- Democrat (1982).
[ix] United Press International, “New Judge Named To Replace Retiring Morgan.” Rolla Daily News (1982).
[x] “State high court justice is appointed federal judge.” St. Louis Globe-Democrat (1985).
[xi] “Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies.” St Louis-Daily Record (1998).
[xii] “Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies.” St. Louis- Daily Record (1998).
[xiii] “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1998).
[xiv] “George F. Gunn, Jr.,” Justices and Judges of the United States Courts, 1999-2 Supplement, 8C-151.
[xv] James Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson ed., Official Manual of Missouri, 1983-1984, (Jefferson City, MO, 1983), 170.
[xvi] James Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Secretary of State, Official Manual of Missouri, 1983-198, (Jefferson City, MO, 1983), 170.
[xvii] Tim Bryant, “Senior U.S. District Judge George F. Gunn Jr. dies of cancer at 70,” St Louis Post Dispatch (1998).
Biographical information authored by Ms. Hannah Siegel, 2017, Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri.