Second Court of Appeals

Chief Justice

Howard Martin Fender (1983 to 1987)

Howard Martin Fender was born November 23, 1920, in Fort Worth, Texas.  He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1942.  He then studied law at Washington and Lee University.

In 1952, he was elected Tarrant County District Attorney where he served for six years.  From 1962 to 1972, he served as an assistant attorney general.  In 1973, he returned to Tarrant County as an assistant district attorney.  He headed the district attorney’s appellate division until he was appointed as the judge of Criminal District Court No. 2 in 1978 by Governor Dolph Briscoe.  He was elected Chief Justice of the Second Court of Appeals in 1983.  After stepping down as Chief Justice, he returned to the trial bench, serving as judge of County Criminal Court No. 7 from 1989 to 1996.

Even after leaving fulltime judicial service, he continued hearing cases for many years as a senior judge.  Fender died January 6, 2008, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Fort Worth.