Administrative Office of Courts
99th Bar Memorial Service honors 50 lawyers Fifty Mississippi lawyers who died during the past year were honored Tuesday, Oct. 18, during a special memorial service at the State Capitol. Mississippi Supreme Court Presiding Justice William L. Waller Jr. of Jackson presided over the gathering of judges, lawyers, friends and family in the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the Capitol. Mississippi Bar President Joy Lambert Phillips of Gulfport delivered the eulogy. The memorial service, which included the lighting of a candle as each name was read, was the 99th to honor deceased members of the Mississippi Bar. Mississippi Supreme Court Presiding Justice Kay Cobb of Oxford, in a response for the Court, said, “In looking over this honor roll, we see names of men and women, young and old, who are known, loved and respected within the legal profession. Their work and effort was in the law, a noble profession. Their labors were long, not necessarily in proportion to the number of years spent, but in proportion to their enjoyment of it. From just a quick glance at the list of names of those we honor today, we see one who served faithfully 70 years in our profession, and one who only served six years.” Justice Cobb said, “Whether from small, humble beginnings or from strong legal legacies, they rose to impressive heights. Each made his or her lasting impression on our great profession.” Justice Cobb thanked the families and friends for their support of their loved ones’ profession. She also challenged all those lawyers in attendance, “Always remember that we are the recipients of a rich heritage left by those we honor today, and their predecessors. May we always seek to discern the truth and be faithful trustees of their work, enlarging upon its foundation, and extending it’s height, to make our profession more noble than before.” Attorney H. Hunter Twiford of Jackson, chairman of the Bar Memorial Committee, read a resolution on behalf of the bar. It said, in part: “These individuals, some in the active practice of law and others in positions of academic, civic, governmental or business leadership, have served their profession, their nation, their state, their communities and their families with honor, courage, dignity and wisdom.... “As we gather today in their memory, we give thanks to this great and honorable profession to which those memorialized today devoted their lives, and we are again reminded that the freedoms we enjoy depend upon the selfless devotion to the principles of the law as exemplified in the lives of those whom we now commemorate.” Here is a list of the names of the deceased, including hometowns and bar admission dates:
#### |