Gene Magee's Obituary
OBITUARY
WILLIAM EUGENE “GENE” MAGEE
William Eugene “Gene” Magee, 73, of Collierville, TN, and formerly of Madison, MS, died peacefully surrounded by his family on November 6, 2025, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gene was born February 12, 1952, in Bogalusa, LA, to the late W.O. Magee and Mary Ruth Magee. He received his undergraduate and Juris Doctorate Degrees at the University of Mississippi in 1973 and 1978, respectively. He went on to complete the Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University in 1979. He was also a Certified Public Accountant, receiving at the time the highest score in the state of Mississippi. Gene retired in 2019 as a partner at Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens, and Cannada, PLLC. He served with Butler-Snow for over 40 years.
Gene was preceded in death by his parents and a baby sister. He is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Lu Ann Fortenberry Magee; his daughter, Kimberly Magee Hester and husband Lex, of Germantown, TN, and their children, Brecon, Hallie, Ava, and Blair Hester; his son, Clay Magee and wife Sarah Baker Magee of Birmingham, Alabama, and their daughters, Ann Reece and Stella; his brothers-in-law and their wives, William and Judy Fortenberry of Madison, MS, and Larry and Janice Fortenberry, of Hattiesburg, MS; nephews, Dr. Cole Fortenberry (Stephanie) of Madison and the late Larry Kenneth Fortenberry; nieces, Lindsay Fortenberry Burke (Guy) of Indianola, MS, and Cheryl Fortenberry Taylor Barwick (Greg), of Edwards, MS; and numerous great-nieces and nephews.
Gene and Lu Ann resided in the Jackson, MS, metropolitan area for forty-one years. Gene was a member of Colonial Heights Baptist Church, and later, he joined Grace Evangelical Church in Collierville, TN. The Rev. Mark Anderson, who was pastor at Colonial Heights, said Gene was a devoted member and leader in the church.
“Gene was not only a member of the church I pastored in Mississippi but a dear friend. Each year he would invite my son and me to go duck hunting with him near Vicksburg. What cherished memories! Gene loved the Lord, his family, and his church. He was a significant leader during my tenure there. Though I am confident he is home in heaven, I will miss him greatly.”
Gene’s friends and family are quick to characterize him as not only a man who walked his Christian faith but as a man with many interests and loves.
Vicki Spring, who has been friends with Gene and Lu Ann for many years, said Gene was a very unique man.
“He had a brilliant mind, but he was so funny at the same time,” Vicki said.
Gene loved to duck hunt and spent years at the duck camp with his many friends. One of them, Greg Broadbridge, hunted with Gene for 3-4 years. He said that Gene was one of the Godliest men he had ever known.
“He was a fine man, and we had a lot of fun together. Duck hunting, though, is hard work. I remember when Gene got a black lab he named Dixie. He sent her to school to be a duck hunting dog, but the dog was afraid of the water. So, Gene had to send her back to school for the second time. After Dixie graduated, we had her with us in the duck blind, and the ducks came up, and we got a couple. Gene looked at Dixie and gave her the command to get the ducks. That dog dipped her paw in the freezing cold water and looked at Gene like ‘Are you crazy?’ Gene prodded and kept telling the dog to fetch the duck. Finally, she went to the duck and brought it back to Gene very reluctantly. But it took 20 minutes! We could have walked out there and gotten it ourselves in that length of time.”
Friends who followed Gene on social media knew that he loved to read and to travel, especially to destinations related to historical events. Gene posted weekly posts on Facebook, particularly his Wednesday Book Quotes. While on his travels, he also posted lengthy summations of the sights he had seen that day as well as their historical contexts.
Gene’s family often teased him about his personal library. As he said in one of his weekly book quotes:
“I not only love to read, but I also love books themselves. I’m afraid I must admit that I am a bibliophile. I’ve decided to come out and admit my addiction,” he wrote.
When Lu Ann questioned the need to buy more books, Gene was quick to poke fun at the idea of having enough books by posting a quote from an anonymous author:
“When you compare the books, I do buy to the books I didn’t buy but thought about buying, it’s so much less. I’m actually saving a fortune.”
Gene’s son Clay said one of his favorites of his dad’s collected quotes about having too many books is by University of Sydney Professor and author, John Attridge:
“[If the question is,] ‘Why don't you read the books you already own before buying new books?’ [Then,] why don't you eat all the food in the house before going grocery shopping? That's what you sound like. That's how crazy you sound right now.”
Gene had interests in a wide variety of topics: in architecture, in the structural engineering advances giving rise to the “super tall” category of buildings, in the geo-political dynamics preceding major wars and conflicts, and in the notable characters who emerged during each upheaval. He considered Winston Churchill to be the “greatest person of the 20th century,” and he loved the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. He also loved wilderness backpacking.
He and his friend, Bob Spring, found themselves taking a course at Millsaps to prepare for their first microlite backpacking adventure.
“I met Gene in the early 1980’s through membership at Colonial Heights Baptist Church and very quickly got to know him as a very talented and professional individual who was a well-respected Tax Attorney and a voracious reader. We would visit at church, and our family’s friendship grew.
“However, it was not until Gene and I realized that we had a mutual interest in Wilderness Backpacking that we really got to know each other. Gene was a city boy and had very little outdoor knowledge, and I had grown up on a farm with quite a bit, so there was a gap to fill. Fortunately, we found an Adult Evening Education course on Microlite Wilderness Backpacking at Millsaps College.
“We had our first backpacking adventure to Sipsy Wilderness Area in the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama. In the years that followed we had trips to Georgia, North Carolina, and Arkansas.
“I will surely miss my friend, but I know instead of hiking trails, he will be walking those streets of gold.”
But the one accomplishment that gave Gene the greatest joy was the organizing of a mission in the highlands of Peru with the help of his friend Randy Cress.
“Gene was my Peru Mission Partner for 16 years as we traveled in the highlands of Peru telling the Quechua about the good news of Jesus Christ. It was on one of these trips that Gene led his first person to Christ. I had never seen him so excited,” Cress said.
His sister-in-law, Janice Fortenberry, said that while Gene’s range of interests was remarkable in its breadth and his knowledge so expansive, Gene was a humble man whose life enriched all those who knew him.
“Gene was the smartest man I have even known, but he never was condescending in any way to anyone. His brilliant mind was second only to his humble kind Christian spirit,” she said.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Colonial Heights, Gene Magee Peru Mission Fund, 444 Northpark Drive, Ridgeland, MS 39157.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38119 (901) 767-8930. “Where Memphis comes to remember, since 1924.
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