Johnson City lawyer Frederic Brandt died Sunday. He was 88. Brandt was a lifelong resident of Johnson City. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tennessee in 1957 and served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves before graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Brandt served on several non-profit boards, including the Johnson City Boys Club and the Tennessee Mental Health Association. A celebration of life will be held next spring. To receive notification of services, contact the Morris-Baker funeral home at 423-282-1521 or by email at info@morrisbaker.com.

Former Tennessee State Architect Mike Fitts died Nov. 23 at age 88. A graduate of the University of Tennessee Knoxville School of Engineering, the University of Tennessee School of Architecture and the Nashville School of Law, Fitts served as state architect for 39 years. His most noted projects included the Legislative Plaza, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Bicentennial Mall, and restorations at the governor's residence and state capitol. Services will be held Dec. 30 at The Village Church, 7224 Old Burkitt Rd., Nolensville 37013 at 11 a.m. CST with a time of visitation with the family one hour prior to the service. Memorial donations can be made to the scholarship endowment founded in his name at the UT School of Architecture.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will lie in repose in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall on Dec. 18 prior to her funeral service the next day, the court announced yesterday. A private ceremony will be held that day at 9:30 a.m. EST. The public is invited to pay respects from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. The invitation-only funeral service will take place Dec. 19 at the National Cathedral. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to iCivics, a public education program that O’Connor supported during her life.

Overton County lawyer Joyce Annette “JJ” Oakley died Nov. 30. Services were held yesterday in Livingston. Oakley earned a bachelor of science in nursing in 1972 and a master of nursing in 1980. She taught for many years but then attended the University of Tennessee College of Law, earning a law degree in 1985. Oakley served as president of the Oakley First National Foundation, which provides scholarships to students in need. She also was a member of the Livingston Regional Hospital Board of Trustees and the Cumberland University Board of Trust.

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, has died at age 93. Nominated to the court by President Ronald Regan in 1981, O’Connor served until 2006. In his nomination, Reagan called her “truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 brethren who have preceded her.” During her tenure, O’Connor became known as a moderate conservative and was often the deciding vote on thorny social issues, including affirmative action and abortion rights. Chief Justice John Roberts described O’Connor as a “patriot” and a “fiercely independent defender of the rule of law, and an eloquent advocate for civics education.” CNN has this remembrance. Members of the Tennessee judiciary also reflected on O'Connor's impact as a jurist.

David S. Kennedy, a retired chief U. S bankruptcy judge for the Western District of Tennessee, died Nov. 26 at age 79. Kennedy was born in Reagan, Tennessee, and earned a bachelors degree from the University of Memphis and a law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. After law school, Kennedy embarked on a distinguished career as a lawyer, ultimately serving as chief bankruptcy judge. He was a member of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association. A visitation with the Kennedy family will be held Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. CST at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5668 Poplar Avenue, Memphis 38119.

Memphis lawyer James Lewis Boren Jr. died Nov. 15 at the age of 95. A graduate of Christian Brothers High School, he attended Vanderbilt University for his undergraduate and law degrees. During law school, he was editor-in-chief of the law review and a member of the Dean's Council and Order of the Coif. In 1953, Boren joined Mid-South Title, which was co-founded by his father. He was CEO of the firm when it was acquired by Lawyer's Title in 1978. He retired in 1994 as senior vice president. Boren was a past president of the American Land Title Association and the Tennessee Land Title Association, and co-chair of the Tennessee Insurance Commissioner's Committee on Title Insurance. A private burial has been held. A celebration of life will take place Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. CST in the chapel at Second Presbyterian Church, 4055 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38111. Visitation will follow. Memorial gifts may be made to the church’s foundation, the Trezevant Foundation or JDRF International to support Type 1 Diabetes research (mail check to 3369 Pine Ridge Rd., Ste. 202 Naples, FL 34109 with Jim Boren in the memo).

Memphis attorney Kristin Clay Dunavant, 40, died Nov. 17 at her childhood home after a three-year battle with cancer. She attended the University of Mississippi and earned her law degree at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and later worked as a corporate attorney at Bass, Berry and Sims. Services were held Monday, with a graveside service following on Wednesday.

Longtime Lawrenceburg attorney Paul Alan Bates died Nov. 8 at age 75. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1967–1971. He attended law school at the University of Memphis and practiced law in Lawrenceburg from 1976 until he retired in 2010. Bates was also a substitute Lawrenceburg city judge for 15 years, a past president of the Lawrence County Bar Association, and a past member of the TBA, ABA, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and The Association of Trial Lawyers of America. A funeral service will be held on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. CST at Heritage Funeral Home in Columbia with visitation beginning at 11 a.m. Following the service, Bates will be interred in Maury Memorial Gardens with military honors.

A tribute to former TBA President Thomas Maxfield “Max” Bahner and his wife Sarah was included in Friday’s edition of Chattanooga.com. The piece chronicles the couple’s love story, including how they met and how they achieved a “marriage of equals,” their love of travel and how they supported each other in their individual endeavors. Rarely apart in life, they died just 15 days apart last month. A memorial service for both will take place this Friday at 1 p.m. EST at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 305 W. 7th St., Chattanooga, TN 37402. Memorial gifts may be made to Orange Grove Center, 615 Derby St., Chattanooga, TN 37404 or the music fund at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.