John Mowbray; Former Nevada Chief Justice

John Mowbray, 78, former Nevada chief justice who served on the state’s Supreme Court for 25 years. Mowbray, who retired in 1993, did so partly because of increasing blindness caused by glaucoma. He was also under pressure from three colleagues who said his job performance had declined. Before he was named to the state high court, Mowbray served as a lower court judge and bankruptcy referee in Las Vegas for 12 years. The veteran jurist was known as a champion of “the little guy.” A native of Bradford, Ill., Mowbray served as an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He earned his law degree at the University of Notre Dame and then moved to Las Vegas to become one of only two deputies in the Clark County district attorney’s office. He was elevated to the state Supreme Court in 1967 by then-Gov. Paul Laxalt and won reelection four times. On Wednesday in Las Vegas of kidney problems.