Marietta First Presbyterian Church Pastor Joe Evans said he'd never been to a funeral quite like it, but then he'd never known a person quite like former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice P.

Justice P. Harris Hines (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Harris Hines.

Hines died in a car crash Nov. 4—just two months after his retirement at the mandatory age of 75.

The crowd packing the church's Great Hall Tuesday included the Supreme Court justices and  judges from the Court of Appeals, the Cobb County courts and elsewhere, plus current, former and possibly future governors. The Georgia State Patrol stood guard and bore the state and U.S. flags. Out of reverence to Hines, the pastor said, the Cobb County sheriff's office had asked the railroads to slow down the trains running through town. They did. The church website broadcast the funeral live.

Evans said he'd attended a retirement party for Hines given by a close friend at the Cherokee Club—“the fanciest place I've ever been. In the men's room they had a machine that would shine your shoes.” But the host could have saved a lot of money, because Hines would rather have a chili dog from the Varsity. And the pastor said all those who'd ever tried to be on time going somewhere with Hines knows how he would stop and talk to anyone.

Said Evans, “He made us all feel like we were among his best friends.”

Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harold Melton eulogizes his immediate predecessor, mentor and friend Chief Justice P. Harris Hines on Tuesday at First Presbyterian Church in Marietta. (Photo: Kelly J. Huff/Marietta Daily Journal)

Hines was eulogized by Gov. Nathan Deal and Chief Justice Harold Melton. Both wept.

“Anyone who knew Harris knew how generous, how thoughtful, how genuinely kind he was,” Deal said. “He was the type of person you couldn't help but like—something most lawyers would love to be.”

Deal said people were “struck by his intellect, his self-effacing mannerisms, his amiable way of dealing with everyone.”

The governor noted the “great outpouring of love and remembrances” of Hines. “I'm here to tell you how impactful he was on the life of the state of Georgia,” Deal said.

Then, turning to Hines' wife, Deal said, “Helen, all of Georgia mourns with you.”

Deal recalled Hines saying that his half-century marriage was “like springtime at the Masters.”

“For him, that was like heaven,” Deal said. “Now that is what his soul will know for all eternity.” Deal reviewed the four requirements for a judge from Socrates that Hines was fond of quoting: “To hear courageously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly and to decide impartially.” “Harris fulfilled all four of Socrates stated requirements because of his exceptional heart,” Deal said.

The governor read the retirement letter Hines sent but never made public: “I hope I have served the people of Georgia well and that all persons who I represented as an attorney and everyone who appeared before me as a judge was treated with courtesy, dignity and respect. I have sought to be a competent and fair attorney and judge. I hope I have attained these goals.”

The governor had to stop to weep.

“He's more than attained these goals,” Deal said. “In doing so, he has touched all of us. His wisdom and his kindness and his laughter will be sorely missed. God bless you.”

Melton recalled three decades of friendship starting as an intern for then-Judge Hines. Melton remembered Hines as “a master of those three staples” of a Southern gentleman: “Please. Thank you. And you're welcome.” He said Hines wanted to know all about everyone, even if all they had done was bring him a glass of iced tea: “Half-sweet, half-unsweet.”

“He was a wonderful man with a beautiful, beautiful spirit—that spirit I see in his wife, Helen, his son, Hap, and his wife, Kelly, his daughter Mary Margaret and her husband, Clem, and his four grandchildren.”

Melton had to stop to weep, too, but he continued with a pledge for the season of  Thanksgiving: “Here's my commitment. I promise to say a special thanks … that he shared that spirit with me and made me a little bit better person. Thank you.”