KDSN RADIO News
Former Iowa Supreme Court Judge, candidate for governor, Mark McCormick dies
Former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Mark McCormick died Sunday at the age of 91.
McCormick was a Fort Dodge native who served on the Supreme Court from 1972 until returning to private practice in 1986. McCormick attended Villanova on a Naval ROTC scholarship and served three years in the Navy before getting a law degree from Georgetown.
McCormick spent a year as a clerk at the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals before entering private practice from 1961 to 1968. During that time, he was an assistant Webster County Attorney and then was appointed a district court judge and later to the Iowa Supreme Court.
McCormick narrowly lost the Democratic primary for governor in 1998 to Tom Vilsack, who went on to win the general election.
Chief Justice Susan Christensen says McCormick was a friend of her dad, who was also a judge, and says, “His keen intellect, steady wisdom, and generous spirit left a lasting impression on all who had the privilege of knowing him.”
The Supreme Court has set up a page with remarks from the justices about McCormick on the Judicial system website.
