CHARLESTON – Former West Virginia Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice Darrell McGraw has died.
McGraw, 88, died December 7 following a heart attack, a friend of the McGraw family said.
His lifelong dedication to public service was something of which McGraw took great pride. He served 20 years as attorney general and 12 as a state Supreme Court justice. He unsuccessfully ran for another term on the Supreme Court in 2016.
“We should always embrace our age,” McGraw said in an interview with The West Virginia Record in 2016. “And really, if we’re vigorous and capable, we should continue to serve our community.
“I don’t want to be illiterate, ill-informed, illogical or illiberal.”
He also was proud of his Wyoming County upbringing and the faith-based value system instilled in him there carried him through life.
“One notion from that is to be concerned about our neighbors and do work for them when we can. I’m able to live up to that admonition,” McGraw said. “No one’s perfect in living up to a value system, but we all should try to do our best when we can. And I want to try to do that for my people, my state and for my country. …
“To serve West Virginia is my calling, and my training is legal training. So, this is what I’ve chosen to do. In my rearing, we were taught to keep the faith. And keeping the faith involves working for the good of the community, working for others, doing good works.
“We believe it is our duty to do good works and, in my case, that takes the form of service. This is my calling. I have served since I was 17 when I enlisted in the United States Army.”
McGraw was born in McGraws-Tipple and graduated from Pineville High School. He served two years in the Army, stationed in Germany, before attending West Virginia University, where he served as student body president and dedicated the mast of the U.S.S. West Virginia on campus. He also earned his law degree from the WVU College of Law.
After serving as counsel to Gov. Hulett Smith and the state Legislature, McGraw was elected to the Supreme Court in 1976. In 1992, he was elected to the first of five four-year terms as Attorney General.
As AG, McGraw played a key role in the 1998 multibillion-dollar State Tobacco Settlement, which secured billions of dollars for West Virginia.
And in 2001, McGraw was the first state AG to sue Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma. Just before trial in November 2004, Purdue agreed to a settlement paying West Virginia $10 million for programs to discourage drug abuse.
Described by some as “one of the most stalwart Democrats in the state,” McGraw always proudly wore the title.
“Everyone who knows me at all knows I’m a Democrat, but I don’t trade on it in my campaign,” McGraw said. “I just discuss theoretical concepts of justice.”
McGraw is survived by his wife Jorea Marple and four children. Marple was the state’s first female superintendent of schools.a
McGraw’s brother Warren also was a state senator, Supreme Court justice, Wyoming County circuit court judge. Warren McGraw died last year.