John Thomas Copenhaver Jr., an American jurist and senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, died on May 12, 2026, at age 100.
Born in Charleston, West Virginia, on September 29, 1925, he attended The Citadel from 1942 to 1944. After law school, he clerked for Judge Ben Moore of the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1950 to 1951, practiced law in Charleston from 1951 to 1958, and served as a referee in bankruptcy for the district from 1958 to 1973. He was appointed to the federal bench in 1976 and remained a senior judge at the time of his death.
John Thomas Copenhaver Jr., 100, American jurist, judge of the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia (since 1976).