Robert J. Kelleher | Federal judge, 99

LOS ANGELES - Senior U.S. District Judge Robert J. Kelleher, 99, the oldest serving federal judge in the nation and once an important figure in U.S. tennis, has died in his Los Angeles home.

Announcement of Judge Kelleher's death Wednesday came from Chief Judge Audrey B. Collins of the Central District of California. "Judge Kelleher contributed to the life and history of the court and continued to handle cases well into his 90s," she said.

Among key cases he presided over was the late 1970s espionage trial of Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee. The case became the basis for a book and movie, The Falcon and the Snowman.

Judge Kelleher, born in New York City, was a graduate of Williams College and Harvard Law School. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970.

The former tennis champion captained the triumphant 1963 U.S. Davis Cup team. He and his wife, Gracyn Wheeler Kelleher, won the mixed doubles championship in 1947. She died in 1980. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000 and received his Hall of Fame ring July 3, 2011.

He is survived by a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren. - AP