Madam Speaker, I rise to salute the life of a good friend and great public servant. William E. McAnulty Jr. lost his battle with lung cancer on August 23. His passing marks the culmination of an incredible life: the son of an Indiana mailman became the first African American to be elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

He will be missed not only by his wonderful family – wife Kristi, sons Patrick and William III, daughters Katheryn and Shannon, and father William E. McAnulty – but by legions of friends and admirers who loved him for his incredible wit, his lively intelligence, and his unwavering commitment to justice throughout society.

Bill, or Judge Mac as he was belovedly known, was born in Indianapolis in 1947. He received his BA from Indiana University and both his Masters and JD degrees from the University of Louisville. He was first elected to the bench in 1975 as a judge in Jefferson County Juvenile Court. Two years later he was elected to the Jefferson County District Court, and then he was selected by Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr. to serve as Secretary of the Justice Cabinet in 1980.

Following his service in Frankfort, Bill was once again elected to the bench, this time to the Jefferson Circuit Court, where he served until 1998, when he became the first African American to be elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

In June, 2006, McAnulty was appointed by Governor Ernie Fletcher to succeed Justice Martin E. Johnstone, who was retiring. Then last fall, he was elected to that post. While he tried to play down the significance of being the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court, he was well aware of what his accomplishment meant. Upon his swearing in, he said that other African Americans “will understand this door is open and they are able like any other lawyer or judge to enter.”

But McAnulty was not like any other lawyer or judge. He was universally recognized and applauded for his fairness, his patience, and his disarming sense of humor. When he learned that he had cancer that had spread to his brain and was to undergo surgery, he said his only fear was that he would “wake up as Clarence Thomas or a UK fan.”

Justice McAnulty was frequently the recipient of professional honors, including the Henry V. Pennington Outstanding Judge of the Year in 1997, awarded by the Kentucky Trial Attorneys.

Unfortunately, no simple biography can adequately describe the person under the black robe. Bill was one of those rare individuals who was equally comfortable with princes and paupers, and who never thought about the difference. I was fortunate to know him for more than 25 years, and most recently, as we both campaigned last year, I saw first hand how deeply he cared about the least among us, and how steadfast was his commitment to combat injustice wherever he saw it.

I know he would have seen some kind of cosmic irony in the fact that his crowning achievement would have ended so quickly, but while his tenure on the Kentucky Supreme Court was short, his legacy to Kentucky justice will endure forever.