BY: TIM CARPENTER, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Retired Kansas Supreme Court Justice Fred Six, appointed to the state’s highest appellate court by Gov. Mike Hayden, has died, the court said in a statement Tuesday.
Chief Justice Marla Luckert, who replaced Six when he retired in 2003, said he was a “dedicated public servant of the highest order.” He served on the Supreme Court from September 1988 to January 2003 and was a member of the Kansas Court of Appeals for one year before selected by Hayden for the Supreme Court.
“As a justice, he will be remembered for his brilliant legal mind, his principled decision-making, his clear writing and his courtesy, respect and fairness to all,” Luckert said. “As a person, he was kind, insatiably curious, genuinely caring and famous for his bow ties.”
She said Six was “held in the highest professional and personal esteem by his colleagues and friends. Our hearts are with his family who have lost him and his beloved wife within a span of 10 days.”
Six, 95, of Lawrence died April 27. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Lilian Six, on April 17. He was survived by a daughter, Catherine Six-Sallerson of East Hampton, New York, and a son, Stephen Six of Lawrence, who served as Kansas attorney general from 2008 to 2011.
Six served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War and received a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1956. He worked in private practice and as an assistant attorney general in Kansas. After retiring from the Supreme Court, Six was a volunteer in campaigns for President Barack Obama and Gov. Laura Kelly.