Kim Greuter presents a resolution for the late Judge Robert Moon Jr. during a memorial service for lawyers that have passed away throughout 2011 conducted by the Chattanooga Bar Association at the Hamilton County Courthouse’s County Commission Room late Monday morning.remembered
Wallace McRoy DaviesWilliam Crutchfield Jr.LeRoy Phillips Jr.Mitchell Aaron ByrdGeorge Bowman “Bo” LeNoirRichard C. KennedyChamberlain McAllesterJoseph V. BarkerSilas Williams Jr.Robert L. Moon Jr.Source: Chattanooga Bar Association
One of them took his legal expertise to war in Korea, another spent decades helping abused youths in the Scenic City, another died writing poetry.
All of the nine men honored in the Chattanooga Bar Association’s memorial service Monday morning left their mark on the local legal community.
During the hourlong ceremony in the Hamilton County Commission meeting room, more than 130 jurists and well-wishers listened to detailed resolutions honoring the lives of nine local lawyers who died over the past year.
The local bar has memorialized its members in the annual ceremony, which began in 1897.
Local private defense lawyer Martin Levitt brought laughter to the crowd when he recounted the spirited advocacy his legal partner, LeRoy Phillips Jr., brought to his criminal defense work.
“We sometimes received death threats,” Levitt said. “I just hoped they knew who I was and who LeRoy was.”
The word “meticulous” might understate the nature of Wallace McRoy Davies.
Davies’ friend Donald Morton described the man’s passion for accounting, architectural design and “blue penstrokes” correcting legal and grammatical errors in friends’ writing.
William Crutchfield served with the Judge Advocate General’s Office in the Korean War and later met his wife while on military duty with the U.S. Army at Fort McClellan near Anniston, Ala.
A deep love of the outdoors, the law and poetry marked descriptions of General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon by Kim Greuter.
Greuter said Moon was composing lines of poetry for friends when his life ended on Jan. 26.
Juvenile Court Judge Suzanne Bailey took the podium to remember her friend and colleague George Bowman “Bo” LeNoir. The man worked first as a legal representative for abused youth in Juvenile Court before taking on the role as director of legal services in Juvenile Court.
Bailey said the LeNoir continued to work after a diagnosis of melanoma, which later took his life.
Contact staff writer Todd South at tsouth@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347.