Judge Barry Ray Brown, who served as Sumner County’s juvenile judge for 32 years, died Oct. 10. During his time with the court, Brown established a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program in the county, a Sumner County Teen Court, a Victim/Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) and a program to educate first-time offenders about the dangers of drug abuse. The Nashville School of Law graduate retired from the bench in 2017. Memorial donations may be made to Sumner County CASA, 182 West Franklin St., Gallatin, TN 37066.

W.J. Michael Cody, a Memphis attorney who served as Tennessee’s attorney general from 1977-1981 and U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 1984-1988, died Sept. 15 at the age of 88. Cody, a partner at Burch Porter & Johnson since 1961, also was instrumental in the legal team representing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his 1968 visit to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. Following King’s death, Cody and Memphis pastor James Lawson formed a neighborhood legal services operation to offer free aid to the sanitation workers. That idea expanded into the organization now known as Memphis Area Legal Services. During his long career, Cody also served as co-chair of the Tennessee Commission on Ethics, authored a book on an ethics guide for public service, and served on the Memphis City Council. He ran unsuccessfully for Memphis mayor in 1982. In his later years, Cody was hired as technical adviser on a number of Hollywood legal thrillers filmed in Memphis. According to the family, a public celebration of life will take place at a later date.

Memphis lawyer Monroe Waldemar Gibbs Sr. died on Sept. 17 at age 87. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran and a 1971 graduate of Howard University Law School. Gibbs was a Tennessee Bar Association member and senior counselor. In the community, he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at the Temple of Deliverance.

Tennessee lawyer, lobbyist and former chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, John Richard "Dick" Lodge died Sept. 20 at the age of 75. Born in Sewanee to the family known for their cast iron skillet business, Lodge graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1974 and worked for the attorney general’s office before joining the senate campaign of Jim Sasser. After Sasser's win, Lodge served in Washington, D.C., as his legislative director. Lodge later returned to Nashville to become a partner at Bass, Berry & Sims and ran the firm’s government relations operations for many years. Memorial donations may be made to Abe’s Garden Community, 115 Woodmont Blvd., Nashville, TN 37205; the Center for Contemplative Justice, P.O. Box 91062, Nashville, TN 37209; or Christ Church Cathedral, 900 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203.

Nashville attorney Peggy Mathes died Aug. 4 at age 74. She received her law degree from Nashville School of Law and practiced family and probate law for more than 40 years. She served as Davidson County’s first public administrator until her retirement in 2023. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to the charity of the donor’s choice.

Clarksville attorney Austin Peay VII died Aug. 6 at age 56. Peay received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1993 and spent his career practicing law at the Batson-Nolan Law Office. He was a member of the Montgomery County and Tennessee Bar Associations, as well as the Tennessee County Attorneys Association. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Peay’s memory to the Humane Society of Clarksville-Montgomery County, 940 Tennessee Ave., Clarksville, TN 37040.

Chattanooga attorney Robert H. Robbins died Aug. 17. Following graduation from the University of Kentucky, Robbins was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and served in Vietnam. After active duty, he received his law degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, where he was research editor for the Law Review. He also attended New York University School of Law and received the Master of Law degree in taxation. Robbins practiced law for several years in Chattanooga before becoming senior vice president and trust officer of the Cleveland Bank and Trust Company and Citizens National Bank.

Jim Sasser, former Tennessee U.S. senator and U.S. ambassador to China, died Sept. 10 at age 87. He was a 1961 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School and practiced in the Nashville firm of Goodpasture, Carpenter, Woods and Sasser from graduation until 1972. Sasser’s political work began with service as a regional youth director for the late U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver’s campaign and continued with him managing Al Gore Sr.’s unsuccessful 1970 reelection bid. He entered the political fray himself and won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1976. He served there until 1995, rising to leadership positions on the Budget Committee and within the party. After losing the 1994 campaign to Dr. Bill Frist, President Clinton appointed Sasser to serve as U.S. ambassador to China. He held that position for four years. Sasser died at his adopted home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Fourth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge O. Duane Slone died in a traffic accident in Jefferson County on Aug. 25. He was 61 years old. Slone was first elected to the court in 1998, and in 2009, co-founded the district’s Drug Recovery Court. According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, Slone was recognized nationally as an innovator in his efforts to address the opioid-driven addiction crisis. He served as chair of the eight-state Appalachian-Midwest Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative, the Substance Misuse & Addiction Resources for Tennessee “SMART” Justice Network, and the Tennessee Judicial Conference Problem Solving Court Committee, and was a steering committee member of the National Rural Justice Collaborative and “SMART” Policy Network. Prior to taking the bench, he was in private practice in Dandridge and Sevierville and served as assistant district attorney for the Fourth Judicial District.

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge James Curwood Witt Jr. died Aug. 17 at age 75. Witt, a member of the court’s Eastern Section, was appointed by then-Gov. Don Sundquist in January 1997. Prior to joining the court, Witt served as counsel to the Monroe County Board of Education from 1989-1997. He was the Monroe County Juvenile Court judge from 1979-1982 and a juvenile court referee in Monroe County from 1974-1979. He also served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Tennessee College of Law. Witt received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1973. Memorial donations may be made to Monroe County Animal Shelter, 130 Kefauver Ln., Madisonville, TN 37354. |||