The Hon. Frederick L. Hoback '27

The Honorable Frederick L. Hoback was the chief judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has served as a circuit judge for 27 years. Hoback graduated from Roanoke College in 1927, and received his M.A. degree in economics from the University of Virginia in 1928. He earned his law degree (L.L.B) for the University of Virginia just three years later.

Prior to Hoback's commencing the practice of law in Salem in 1931, he taught law and economics at the University of Virginia. In 1952, Judge Hoback was appointed to the 20th Circuit by Governor John S. Battle. His tenure on the bench can best be summed up with the following words which were part of a resolution by the Roanoke County Bar Association endorsing Judge Hoback for a seat on the State Supreme Court in 1964: "Since 1952, when he assumed his judicial duties, Judge Hoback has improved the dignity, decorum and dispatch of the court by his firm but courteous conduct thereof. He is a serious and able student of the law and is otherwise fully qualified by reason of temperament and devotion to the traditional concepts of American Jurisprudence."

Judge Hoback has participated in numerous professional and community activities including the Roanoke County Bar Association, Sale Chamber of Commerce, Salem Kiwanis Club and the Roanoke College General Alumni Association. In 1971, Judge Hoback retired after thirty-seven years as a part-time teacher in the Department of Economics and Business Administration at Roanoke College.

For over 20 years, he was a chief judge and a member of the three judge committee appointed by the Governor to fix the compensation of courts not of record. He was a graduate of the National College of State Trial Judges, Tau Kappa Alpha, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. He was the past president of the Roanoke County Bar Association, the Salem Kiwanis Club, the Salem Chamber of Commerce and the Roanoke College General Alumni Association. He was a former member of the Virginia State and American Bar Association Executive Committees. He and his wife Louise, raised three children together.

Frederick L. Hoback received the Roanoke College Medal in 1979.