Senior Judge Chester Straub of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a former New York state legislator known during his time in the judiciary for his dedication to “excellence in legal craftsmanship,” died in Bronxville on July 13. He was 87.

Born in Brooklyn, Straub spent much of his youth working in his father’s small family store, according to a statement from the Second Circuit. Straub remembered the store and its culturally diverse visitors as an important lesson on inclusion and participation “in the public process,” he said in remarks at his investiture ceremony for the court.