Tyler Charles Lockett (December 7, 1932 – November 28, 2020) was an American judge, attorney, and jurist. He served as a Justice on the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as t ...

from 1983 to 2003.

Early life and education

Lockett was born in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, to Tyler and Evelyn LeMond Lockett, and moved to

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, at a young age. His father, Tyler "Ty" C. Lockett (1908–1960), was the Sheriff of

Sedgwick County, Kansas Sedgwick County is located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, the most populous city in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 523,824, making it the second-mo ...

, from 1951 to 1955. His brother Hal Lockett was a prominent Wichita attorney. He graduated from Wichita North High School in 1951. From there, he attended Washburn law school receiving an AB degree and an LLB. While at Washburn, Lockett was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

. As a Naval aviator, Lockett spent four years on active duty in the West Pacific. He continued to fly in the Naval Reserve in the late 1960s. In 1967, he was reported to be serving as a co-pilot on a Navy Neptune patrol plane stationed at the Naval Air Station in

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 Uni ...

Legal career

After being admitted to the bar in 1962, Lockett practiced law with the firm of Ratner, Maddox, and Ratner. From 1964 to 1966, he served as a Deputy County Attorney for

. He engaged in private practice until Governor Robert Docking appointed him as a common pleas judge in 1971. In 1977, he was elected as a judge of the Sedgwick County District Court. In 1983, Governor

John W. Carlin John William Carlin (born August 3, 1940) is an American educator and politician who served as the 40th governor of Kansas from 1979 to 1987, and the archivist of the United States from May 30, 1995, to February 15, 2005. He is a member of the ...

, a fellow

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, appointed him to the Kansas Supreme Court. Lockett served on the high court until his retirement in 2003. He continued to hear cases in retirement through 2007.

Personal life and death

Lockett married Sue Warburton in 1961. She was the executive director of the Court Appointed Special Advocate in Shawnee County, Kansas, for more than a decade.See story at http://cjonline.com/stories/073102/com_casa.shtml and they had two sons. He died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, on November 28, 2020, at age 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockett, Tyler C. 1932 births 2020 deaths Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court Kansas state court judges People from Corpus Christi, Texas Washburn University alumni Kansas Democrats Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Kansas