Neil Gorsuch – Donald Trump’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court – is married to his college sweetheart, with whom he has two daughters.
Voting records give her name as Marie Louise. She appears to commonly be called Louise, though, as that’s the name Gorsuch uses to refer to her lovingly in his book, and it’s the name he used for her during his press conference with Trump.
Louise Gorsuch was at her husband’s side at the press conference January 31 when Trump chose him to replace Antonin Scalia.
Gorsuch is an appeals court judge from Denver who is widely regarded for his intellectualism and eloquent writings. As a conservative said to be in the mold of Scalia, though, his nomination could meet with Democratic opposition.
Gorsuch “was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in May 2006. His nomination was confirmed in the United States Senate by unanimous voice vote,” a university bio notes.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Neil & Louise Gorsuch Have Two Daughters
According to the biography published by the University of Colorado – Boulder, where Gorsuch teaches classes, he and his wife have two daughters.
Emma was born in 1999 and Belinda was born in 2001. You can see an older photo of Gorsuch, his wife, and one of his daughters here. And here:
According to a 2006 news story in the Denver Post when Gorsuch was sworn in as an appellate judge, “Seven-year-old Emma and 5-year-old Belinda helped their father, Neil Gorsuch, into his judge’s robes Monday after the newly appointed 10th Circuit Court judge was sworn in.”
The Post said that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy administered the oath of office, and added that “dozens of members of Gorsuch’s family, friends, Colorado’s U.S. senators and the U.S. Attorney General packed the federal courthouse.”
An uncle and friend of Gorsuch described him as “a man with a sense of humor and a commitment to law” and a lawyer present said a juror had once labeled Gorsuch “Perry Mason,” the Post reported.
A St. John’s Episcopal Church newsletter said the Gorsuch daughters were both “lay servers” called acolytes.
2. Gorsuch & His Wife Make Their Home in Colorado & Raise Farm Animals
The university bio says the Gorsuchs live in Boulder, Colorado. The Washington Post reported that Gorsuch remained in the state where he was born: “Gorsuch was born in Colorado and lives outside Boulder with his wife.”
According to SCOTUS Blog, “With his wife, Louise, Gorsuch raises horses, chickens and goats, and often arranges ski trips with old friends and new associates from his former law firm.”
The Daily Camera concurred about the couple’s shared interests, reporting that Gorsuch, his wife, and “their two daughters keep horses, chickens and goats on their 3-acre lot, and Gorsuch is known to spend his free time fly-fishing, hiking and rowing at Boulder Reservoir.”
3. Gorsuch Met Louise, a British Woman, in College
According to the Daily Camera, Gorsuch met his wife while studying at Oxford University.
Louise Gorsuch is “a British woman he met at Oxford,” the news site reported. During his press conference, Gorsuch called Louise his companion of 20 years.
In 2011, Louise Gorsuch spoke before the Boulder City Council about concerns that officials were moving a colony of prairie dogs into the county.
Although born in Denver, Gorsuch and his family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1981 when his mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, was appointed administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency by President Ronald Reagan. She later resigned in the midst of scandal. Gorsuch graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School (where he was a classmate of Barack Obama, according to Politico). He earned a doctorate in philosophy at Oxford, graduating in 2004.
Read more about Gorsuch’s education here:
4. Louise Gorsuch Is Registered as a Republican in Voting Records & Attended Her Husband’s Press Conference
Colorado voter records show a Marie Louise Gorsuch registered to vote as a Republican. The same address comes up under Neil Gorsuch’s name in property records. The voting records say she was born in 1968.
In 2006, the Denver Post reported on Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing for appeals court.
“During the hearing Gorsuch’s wife, Marie Louise, sat in the front row with his daughters, Emma, 6, and Belinda, 4, who wore matching pink dresses,” reported the Post.
Louise was standing at Gorsuch’s side when Trump announced he was the Supreme Court pick too, but the couple’s daughters, now older, were not there.
Neil Gorsuch has been described as a lover of the outdoors like many Coloradans.
5. Gorsuch Thanked His Wife For Her ‘Constant Love’ In a Book Dedication
Neil Gorsuch is the author of a book called, “The Future of Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia.”
In a dedication, he thanked his wife, Louise, and their two children.
“Finally, and borrowing in part from P.G. Wodehouse, I thank my wife, Louise, and my daughters, Emma and Belinda, without whose constant love and attention this book would’ve been finished in half the time – but without whom life wouldn’t been half as fully lived,” Gorsuch wrote.
P.G. Wodehouse was a 20th century English author and humorist.