Judge William Fones, Sr.'s Obituary
William H.D. Fones, Sr., 93, died December 23 after a long illness. He served on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1973 to 1990 both as Chief Justice and as an Associate Justice. During his tenure, Justice Fones and the four other Justices with whom he served were known as a progressive court, setting new standards in Tennessee for the practice of law. The Court established new standards in cases involving comparative negligence, women’s rights, First Amendment rights and the death penalty. Bill Fones was born in Friendship, Tennessee, and with his parents moved to Memphis during the Depression. He grew up in the Normal neighborhood and first acquired his life-long love of golf while caddying at Galloway Golf Course. He graduated from Messick High School and West Tennessee State Teachers College (now the University of Memphis). He enlisted immediately following Pearl Harbor and served with the Fifth Army Air Force in World War II. He was a bomber pilot and flew 90 combat missions in the Southwest Pacific. He graduated from law school from the University of Tennessee before the war, but did not practice as an attorney until after the war. He practiced law for 25 years with the firm of Rosenfield, Borod, Fones, Bogatin & Kremer before becoming a Circuit Court judge in 1971. His wife of more than 50 years, Rebecca Barr Fones, died in 2000. They met by happenstance twice in one day before he left for overseas, once at the office where she worked and a second time that night at the Peabody Skyway. They decided that it was destiny. They leave two sons, Jere Barr Fones and William H.D. Fones, Jr.; two daughters-in-law, Ellen K. Fones and Beverly A. Cruthirds; five grandchildren, Allison Fones, Rebecca Fones Rhea, Kathleen Fones, Ansley Fones and Alexander Fones; three step-grandchildren, Paul Murray, Melissa Murray and Kathryn Owen; and one great-grandchild, Ellie Rhea. Visitation will be at Memorial Park Funeral Home on Monday from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. There will be a memorial service at the Wilson Chapel at Christ United Methodist Church on Tuesday at 11:00 AM. The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Church Health Center.
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