Associated Press
Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen Grimes died Friday in Tallahassee, the court said in a news release. He was 97.
Republican Gov. Bob Martinez appointed Grimes to the Supreme Court in 1987, and he served until 1997. He was chief justice from 1994 to 1996, during which he authorized the court to establish a website. It was one of the first courts in the world to have an an internet presence, the court said.
Grimes was a lawyer with the Holland & Knight firm in Bartow before being appointed a judge on the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland in 1973.
Grimes was a native of Peoria, Illinois, and attended the University of Florida, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1950 and his law degree in 1954.
He married Fay Fulghum of Lakeland in 1951, and they had four daughters: Gay, Mary June, Sue and Sheri.
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Republished with permission from The Associated Press.
