CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVDN) – Governor Patrick Morrisey has ordered flags to be lowered at the West Virginia Capitol Complex and all State facilities throughout Kanawha County from dawn to dusk on January 29, 2025, in remembrance of Former West Virginia Justice Thomas E. McHugh.
Born in Charleston, Justice McHugh was a 1958 graduate of West Virginia University and a Distinguished Military Graduate. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961, achieving the rank of First Lieutenant. He then attended the WVU College of Law, graduating in 1964. During law school, he was a member of the Order of the Coif, a legal honorary, and was associate editor of the West Virginia Law Review. He went on to serve as law clerk to state Supreme Court Justice Harlan Calhoun.
McHugh was elected Kanawha County Circuit Judge in 1974, re-elected in 1976, and served as Chief Circuit Judge from 1974 to 1980. He was first elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in 1980, re-elected in 1992, and retired at the end of 1997, having served as Chief Justice on several occasions.
Justice McHugh practiced law in Charleston until September 2008, when he was appointed as Senior Status Justice to sit on the Court during Justice Joseph Albright’s illness, and continued in this role after Justice Albright’s death. McHugh was elected to serve the rest of Justice Albright’s term before returning to private practice.
Justice McHugh is survived by his wife, Judith; their four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
