When his colleagues at the Georgia Supreme Court said their former Chief Justice P. Harris Hines was kind to “just about everyone he ever met,” they were not exaggerating.

Chief Justice Harold Melton called Hines a “giant of a man” in a special statement released after Hines died in a car crash Sunday. “Because of the love he so freely extended to others, he was loved and cherished by every member of this court, by our staff, and by just about every person who ever met him,” Melton said. “For me personally, he was a mentor and one of my dearest friends. My heart is broken. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beloved wife, Helen, their son and daughter, and their families.”