Longtime Paris attorney Bill Neese will be remembered later this week during visitation and memorial services. Visitation will take place Thursday from 4-7 p.m. CDT at McEvoy Funeral Home in Paris. Visitation will continue Friday at the First United Methodist Church in Paris from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and will be immediately followed by funeral services and burial at Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery. Read more from McEvoy Funeral Home. Memorial donations may be made to The Little Pantries of Henry County, C/O First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 25, Paris, TN 38242; Henry County No Fly Zone, Holly Fork Shooting Complex, Attn: Treasurer Mark Watkins, 6133 Hwy. 79 N., Paris, TN 38242; or Pastor’s Benevolent Fund, First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 25, Paris, TN 38242.

Visitation and memorial services will take place this week for Paris attorney Fred McLean who died on Saturday. Memorial visitation will take place tomorrow 4-7 p.m. CDT at Ridgeway Funeral Home. Visitation will continue Thursday from 11 to noon at Bridge of Hope Church, 1575 Highway 641 S, Paris, TN 38242 and will be immediately followed by a memorial service. Read more from Ridgeway Funeral Home.

Longtime Paris attorney William R. “Bill” Neese, 75, died Saturday after being struck by a Dodge Ram pickup truck on Highway 79 near Paris. The driver, who was still at the scene when deputies arrived, was not charged. Neese was a partner in the Neese & Neese Law Firm with his daughter, Ellen Neese Adams. He also had spent eight years as county attorney for neighboring Weakley County. Neese was an active community member, coaching the Henry County No Fly Zone scholastic skeet shooting team and writing about his childhood in Henry County for the PARIS! Magazine. Funeral arrangements by the McEvoy Funeral Home are pending.

Longtime Paris attorney Fred McLean died Saturday at the age of 72. A 1974 graduate of the Cumberland School of Law, he was a partner with his brother Chip in the firm of McLean and McLean. He also served as city attorney for the city of Paris since 1978. McLean was active in the Helping Hand organization in Henry County and the Paris Lakeway Kiwanis Club. He was named Volunteer of the Year by the Paris-Henry County Volunteer Center in 2013. Funeral arrangements by Ridgeway Funeral Home are pending.

Joe D. Spicer, founding member Memphis law firm Spicer Rudstrom PLLC, passed away Monday. He was 89. Spicer earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law before moving to Memphis to begin his law practice. A skilled trial lawyer, Spicer would spend the next 50 years in courtrooms across Memphis and Tennessee. “Joe’s litigation skills were unmatched,” said Spicer Rudstrom Managing Partner Clint Woodfin in a release. “Perhaps lesser known was his business acumen. His decision to take Spicer Rudstrom statewide in 1996 now serves as the road map for the regional expansion of mid-sized litigation firms. He will truly be missed.” Funeral services for Spicer will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to any charitable organization of your choice.

Sumner County General Sessions Judge Mike Carter died yesterday. He was 64. Carter was appointed to the bench in 2015 after a third General Sessions judge position was created in the county. He won re-election in 2016 to a six-year term. Carter played a pivotal role in the creation of the Sumner County Mental Health Court in 2018. He earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law and was in private practice until his appointment to the bench in 2015. Carter was diagnosed with ALS in 2020. The Administrative Office of the Courts will update its story as more information becomes available.

Attorney Michael Barry Swindle of Altamonte Springs, Florida, died on June 18. He was 77. Swingle attended college at the University of Tennessee and, after a brief stint with the U.S. Army and as a member of the Office of Staff Judges Advocate (JAG), returned to UT where he earned his law degree from the College of Law. Swindle eventually made his way to the Orlando area, where he practiced law for the remainder of his career. Though he lived for many years in Florida, his friends say he always identified as a Tennessean. A celebration of life will be held on Friday at 10 a.m. EDT at All Saints Episcopal Church of Winter Park, 338 East Lyman Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789. The family asks in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park.

James “Jim” Montague Jr., a longtime Knoxville criminal defense attorney, passed away Saturday. He was 66. Originally from Nashville, Montague moved to Knoxville and earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He practiced with Randall Reagan at the firm Montague and Reagan before joining the Knox County Public Defender’s Office where he spent the last 25 years of his career. A funeral mass will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. EDT at Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 711 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville. A celebration of life will follow at approximately 3:30 p.m. EDT at The Square Room, 4 Market Square. Burial and graveside service will occur later in the week at Calvary Cemetery in Nashville. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Montague’s honor to Catholic Charities of East Tennessee or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - Make a Memorial Donation.

Longtime Memphis resident and attorney, James Lloyd “Skeet” Gordon, died July 1 at the age of 83. Gordon received his bachelor’s degree from Memphis State University in 1962 and his law degree from the school in 1974. He practiced law in Memphis for 48 years. In addition to practicing law, Gordon was certified as a river pilot, was an avid reader and loved sports and the outdoors. He was a lifelong member of St Luke's Methodist Church and a member of the DeSoto Masonic Lodge, No 299. A graveside service celebrating his life was held on July 7 at Memorial Park Cemetery.

Memphis lawyer Terry Smart died on June 26. He was 75. A graduate of the Memphis State Law School, where he would later serve as an adjunct professor, Smart practiced law in Memphis his entire career. After he retired from the legal profession, Smart co-authored "Evans Duck Decoy Factory, a Collectors Comprehensive Pictorial Reference Guide,” a book about the history of duck decoys. Smart was an avid decoy collector and a large sample of his decoys can be found on display at the Ducks Unlimited Museum in Memphis’ Bass Pro Pyramid. Services will be provided for Smart at the Goosepond Cemetery in Scottsboro, Alabama. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Goosepond Cemetery, (251) 259-1069.