Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Pair moved to Washington, D.C. as a child, where his father Rev.
While attending school at night, he worked as a messenger and skilled laborer at the Bureau of Customs.
[9] The other nominees included his future colleague Theodore R. Newman, Jr., who was nominated to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Pair was confirmed by the Senate on May 26, 1971,[10] and served until 1974, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 and assumed senior status.
Pair was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Pigskin Club, and the Metropolitan Baptist Church of Washington, where he served as trustee and taught a men's Bible class.