Home County: Jackson
Term of Service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: April 1955 – December 1968
Judge Henry I. Eager was born July 16, 1895, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.[i] He was educated in the public schools of Hopkinsville and Louisville, Kentucky.[ii] In the fall of 1914, he moved to the state of Washington to enroll in the University of Washington.[iii] After his first year, he left college to work on a local farm in Washington to save money for his education.[iv]
Eager moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the fall of 1916 to enroll in the University of Michigan Law School.[v] The next year, he left law school to enlist in the Army during the World War I then returned to his studies at the law school after arriving back in the United States in the summer of 1919.[vi] While in law school, Eager was involved with the Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity.[vii] He earned his bachelor of laws (LL.B) in 1920.[viii]
Eager was admitted to The Missouri Bar December 31, 1920.[ix] From June 1920 until his appointment April 1955 to the Supreme Court of Missouri, he practiced law in Kansas City with a firm known as Blackmar, Newkirk, Eager, Swanson and Midgley.[x] It was there he was able to forge his skills on the defense of the firm’s life insurance clients, becoming one of Kansas City’s preeminent trial lawyers.[xi] In addition to his work in private practice, he lectured about dental jurisprudence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry.[xii]
Then-Governor Phil M. Donnelly appointed Eager under the nonpartisan court plan to the Supreme Court of Missouri to fill Judge George Robb Ellison’s position.[xiii] Eager took the oath of office April 29, 1955,[xiv] and was retained during the 1956 general election for a 12-year term.[xv] He served as Chief Justice from June 6, 1963, to April 13, 1965.[xvi] By 1968, he reached the age of 73 and chose not to seek reelection since he was close to reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.[xvii] After his retirement, he continued to serve the Court as an appointed special commissioner until his death.[xviii]
Throughout his life, Eager was a member of various legal organizations including the Judicial Conference of Missouri, the American Bar Association, the Kansas City Bar Association and the Cole County Bar Association.[xix] He was also a charter member of the Lawyers Association of Kansas City.[xx] From April 1946 through April 1954, he served as a member of the State Board of Law Examiners.[xxi] In addition to being a member of The Missouri Bar, he was a member its board of governors from 1954 to 1955.[xxii] Eager received the Sesquicentennial Award from the University of Michigan and was made an honorary member of the Order of the Coif at the University of Missouri chapter.[xxiii]
Eager died February 10, 1989, in Jefferson City, Missouri, at the age of 93.[xxiv]
[i] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 5.
[ii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 198.
[iii] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 5.
[iv] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 5.
[v] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 5.
[vi] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 6.
[vii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 198.
[viii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO, 1968), 198.
[ix] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 198.
[x] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 6. See also: The Kansas City Times Staff, “Ex-chief justice of Missouri dies at 93,” The Kansas City Times, (Kansas City, MO), February 13, 1989, section B, page 7.
[xi] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 6.
[xii] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 6.
[xiii] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 7.
[xiv] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1959-1960, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1960), 207. See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 8.
[xv] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1955-1956, (Jefferson City, MO, 1956), 207. See also: James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 199.
[xvi] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 199.
[xvii] Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 8.
[xviii] The Kansas City Times Staff, “Ex-chief justice of Missouri dies at 93,” The Kansas City Times, February 13, 1989, section B, page 7. See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 8.
[xix] The Kansas City Times Staff, “Ex-chief justice of Missouri dies at 93,” The Kansas City Times, February 13, 1989, section B, page 7.
[xx] The Kansas City Times Staff, “Ex-chief justice of Missouri dies at 93,” The Kansas City Times, February 13, 1989, section B, page 7.
[xxi] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 198. See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, In Memorium: Honorable Henry I. Eager (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), May 11, 1990, 6.
[xxii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1968), 198.
[xxiii] The Kansas City Times Staff, “Ex-chief justice of Missouri dies at 93,” The Kansas City Times, February 13, 1989, section B, page 7. See also: James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO, 1968), 199.
[xxiv] The Kansas City Times Staff, “Ex-chief justice of Missouri dies at 93,” The Kansas City Times, February 13, 1989, section B, page 7.
Biographical Information authored by Ms. Chloe Shoemaker, 2019, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri.