SANTA FE — New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Pamela Minzner, the second woman to sit on the state's highest court and the first to serve as chief justice, died Friday. She was 63.

The court announced that she had died from cancer.

Minzner had been on the five-member court since 1994.

"Justice Minzner enjoyed unconditional respect and admiration from the legal community because she was hard working, articulate and an excellent writer," Chief Justice Edward Chavez said in a statement.

Minzner was married to Dick Minzner, an Albuquerque lawyer and lobbyist who is a former member of the state House of Representatives and a former secretary of the state Taxation and Revenue Department.

She is also survived by their two sons, Carl and Max.

Soft-spoken and unfailingly courteous on the bench, Minzner asked incisive questions that cut to the heart of complicated legal issues in cases that were argued before the court.

Chavez said "her best qualities were her human qualities. With an ever-present smile, she treated everyone with dignity, respect and genuine thoughtfulness. She will be dearly missed."

Minzner was appointed to the Supreme Court by then-Gov. Bruce King to fill a vacancy, and was elected to the seat in 2002 for an eight-year term.

She had spent the decade prior to 1994 on the state Court of Appeals, where she served as chief judge.

Among her writings as a Supreme Court justice were a 1995 opinion that invalidated the first round of gambling compacts signed by Indian tribes and then-Gov. Gary Johnson, and a 1998 opinion that it was unconstitutional for the Johnson administration to restrict state-paid abortions for poor women.

Minzner received her law degree in 1968 from Harvard University, where she was one of just 22 women in a class of more than 500.

It was "exciting to have the chance to be at the forefront of that era," Minzner said in a 1999 interview.

She served on the faculty of the University of New Mexico law school from 1972 until her appointment to the Court of Appeals, and was in private practice in Boston and Albuquerque before joining the UNM faculty.

Born in Meridian, Miss., she attended high schools in Oklahoma and Ohio _ her father was career Air Force _ and graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Gov. Bill Richardson will appoint someone to fill the vacancy on the court after receiving recommendations from a judicial nominating committee.

Richardson said in a statement that Minzner's death "will be a great loss to the judicial system."

The court said the family would hold a private memorial service next week. A public memorial will be held at a later date.