MANCHESTER, N.H. — A larger-than-life Granite Stater who was extraordinarily private is being remembered as someone who was one of a kind.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter died Thursday at his New Hampshire home. He was 85.

A lot of people in New Hampshire knew of Souter, but very few knew him well. While he was very reserved in his public role, he had an outsized influence in shaping the law and public life in the nearly two decades he served on the highest court in the land.

The former Supreme Court justice who was hailed as a brilliant legal mind lived a life of public service while avoiding the public eye. Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Souter both served as New Hampshire attorney general. She credits him with modernizing the office, among other unheralded achievements.

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“He was just so New Hampshire in his approach, always very down to earth, very frugal, someone who respected our way of life and really, I think, made a tremendous impact on our state and the nation,” she said.

After retiring from the high court, Souter continued to serve, filling in locally as a judge for several years on the federal bench and often handling ceremonial swearing-in duties for top elected officials, such as U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan.

“And he also, as a jurist, was unbelievably smart,” Hassan said. “A brilliant man, but also true to his Granite State values, open minded, willing to listen to facts, which is, of course, what good judges do.”

Souter was intensely private. U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander recalls mustering the courage as a college student to request an interview with Souter for a biographical report.

“And he said no,” she said. “He really was the humblest person we saw serve in such a high office in this country.”