State of Mississippi Judiciary

Retired Chancellor M. Glenn Barlow of Pascagoula died November 15

November 19, 2025

Retired Chancellor M. Glenn Barlow of Pascagoula died on Nov. 15. He was 86.

A funeral service will be held on Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m. at Community of Christ Church in Escatawpa. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. at the church. Burial will be at Machpelah Cemetery.

Judge Barlow served as Chancellor of the 16th Chancery Court from January 1979 through January 2005. Those who knew and worked with him remembered Judge Barlow as fair, kind and gentlemanly on the bench, and his use of humor to calm tense disputes.

Supreme Court Justice David Ishee of Gulfport said, “He was a great judge and a very good friend....I tried my first cases in front of him. He was very fair. He had a good sense of humor. He tried to find something entertaining to put people at ease. One of his expressions was ‘We need light, not heat in this matter.’ ”

Former Supreme Court Justice Randy Pierce of Leakesville said, “Judge Barlow’s service on the bench was exemplary. He did his best to be a calming voice during tense litigation and had the temperament necessary to be an outstanding jurist....Mississippi’s judiciary is better because of Judge Barlow’s service. My prayers are with his family.”

Pierce said, “Judge Barlow was gracious to me both as a new judge and a new lawyer. When I was in law school, I was an intern in the 16th Chancery Court District. Judge Barlow took the time to offer me guidance and advice. As a new member of the bar, one of my first trials was in front of Judge Barlow. He was a pleasure to practice before because he was always prepared and courteous.” After Judge Barlow retired from the Chancery bench, Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Pierce to the Chancery Court vacancy.

Court of Appeals Judge Anthony Lawrence III of Pascagoula grew up in the same neighborhood as Judge Barlow. He recalled, “My first time as a lawyer in front of him, he asked me from the bench if I realized that a lawyer had a duty of candor to the court and must tell the truth if asked a question by a judge. I responded ‘yes sir.’ He then said, ‘Well let me clear something up. One day many years ago, I spent most of a Saturday raking leaves. I was going to pick them up the next day. I woke to find they had been scattered all over the yard again. Were you involved as a kid in scattering my leaves?’ He burst out in laughter before I could answer.”

“Judge Barlow loved the law and being a chancellor,” Judge Lawrence said. “Being in front of him as a judge was never fearful or stressful. He was a calming judge. He recognized every case before him was about people’s lives and he worked hard to make all litigants and lawyers feel at ease in a very stressful legal process. He genuinely cared for people and always did what he thought was right according to the evidence and the law. When I was a young lawyer, he seemed like a giant who stood for, believed in and always followed the law.”

Court reporter Kati Vogt McVeay said, “I was a ‘baby court reporter’ and had only been out of school for about two years when Judge Barlow hired me to serve as his court reporter in Mississippi's 16th Chancery Court District in 2001, and I served as his court reporter until his retirement. What an honor it was to work alongside him and learn from him. I admired him deeply, not only for his kindness to me and his wisdom, but for the humility and fairness he showed in his courtroom every day. He was also quick with a joke and said more than once, ‘A little levity never hurt anybody.’ His death is an enormous loss to the legal community, but he left a legacy that will continue in the lives he impacted, like mine, and I’m so grateful to have worked by his side and witnessed his example up close.”

Attorney Kelly Sessoms III of Pascagoula said, “He was always kind to me and fair in his rulings.”

Marvin Glenn Barlow was born on Dec. 31, 1938 in Pascagoula to Joseph and Sudie Barlow. As a teenager, he was proud to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Community of Christ affiliated Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, then earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1962. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1965 and was admitted to the Mississippi Bar that same year. He practiced law in Pascagoula until his election as chancellor.

He met Barbara Thompson at a church camp. They married on June 1, 1963. They had two sons and five grandchildren. They were married for 59 years. She preceded him in death in 2022.

Both were ordained in the Community of Christ Church, he as a Patriarch and she as an Elder.

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