Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court was found dead at the Cibolo Creek Ranch near Shafter, Texas, over the weekend.

Justice Scalia passed away in his sleep, apparently of natural causes, during the night of February 12-13, 2016. He was 79, and had served on the Supreme Court for nearly 30 years.

He had earned a reputation for staunch conservative views and strict interpretation of the United States Constitution.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., issues a brief statement regarding Justice Scalia’s death.

“On behalf of the Court and retired Justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away. He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his family,” stated Roberts.

Antonin Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey, March 11, 1936.

He married Maureen McCarthy and has nine children - Ann Forrest, Eugene, John Francis, Catherine Elisabeth, Mary Clare, Paul David, Matthew, Christopher James, and Margaret Jane.

He received his A.B. from Georgetown University and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School, and was a Sheldon Fellow of Harvard University from 1960–1961.

He was in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio from 1961–1967, a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia from 1967–1971, and a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago from 1977–1982, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University and Stanford University. He was chairman of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law, 1981–1982, and its Conference of Section Chairmen, 1982–1983.

He served the federal government as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy from 1971–1972, Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1972–1974, and Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel from 1974–1977. He was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982.

President Reagan nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat September 26, 1986.