Miami federal Judge Shelby Highsmith, who retired in 2008, died Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 86.

Highsmith was appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 after serving on the Miami-Dade Circuit bench from 1970 to 1975, followed by 16 years in private practice. He was in private practice in Kansas City, Missouri, before relocating to Florida in 1959.