Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht is the Supreme Court of Texas' longest serving member, having first joined the institution over 35 years ago.

That fact is about to change, however, as the 75-year-old jurist announced this week that he will be retiring. 

Chief justice rose from humble beginnings

According to KERA News, Hecht is necessitated by the failure of Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment which would have increased the mandatory retirement age for judges and justices from 75 to 79.

Proposition 13 was the only one of 14 proposed constitutional amendments not to pass, something which is expected to affect roughly 100 state justices and judges over the next decade.

"I've been a judge 43 years," Hecht was quoted as saying in response. "That's more than half my life — way over half my life. So, I accept the will of the people, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter."

KERA News recalled how Hecht's early years were spent growing up on a farm in Clovis, New Mexico, which is located just a dozen miles from the Texas state line.

Expert: Hecht  symbolized "Republican dominance"

From there he studied mathematics and philosophy at Yale before getting his law degree from Southern Methodist University.

After working in Washington D.C. for a year and doing a stint in the Navy, Hecht began practicing business in 1976 law at a Dallas firm then known as Locke Purnell.

Hecht told KERA News that his humble beginnings did not hold him back, saying,  "A lot of people told me at the time, ‘Oh, you know, Dallas is kind of highbrow and you're from a farm. I don’t know how well you're going to like it.'"

"But I liked it a lot," the elderly justice explained. "I liked the challenges, I liked the history of Dallas, I liked the old red courthouse. There's a lot of areas in Dallas I just kind of identified with."

Brandon Rottinghaus is a political science professor at the University of Houston, and he pointed out how Hecht symbolized "Republican dominance of the state's high courts," having begun practicing law at a time when Democrats were still a powerful force in Texas.

Fellow justices joked about length of Hecht's career

KERA News noted that the length of Hecht's career stands out among his colleagues and has even provided a source of humor on Texas' highest judicial body.

An example of that came in 2013 when Justice Wallace Jackson announced his retirement following a dozen years spent on the state Supreme Court.

"I leave you in good hands," Jefferson, who was Texas' first African American justice, declared before adding, "Unlike the rest of us, Nathan will be here forever."