Mary Jo Hoover, retired associate dean of student affairs at the University of Tennessee College of Law, died Sept. 11. Hoover served the school as assistant dean and instructor of law from 1976 to 1980, and as associate dean for student affairs from 1980 until she retired in 1997. She twice received Carden Awards for Outstanding Service to the Institution and received a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Advising. After Hoover retired, she continued to serve as a pro bono attorney for the Legal Aid Society and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Prior to her retirement, the Mary Jo Hoover Student Organization Fund was established in her honor. Donations to that fund may be sent to the College of Law’s Development Office, 1505 W. Cumberland Ave., Knoxville, TN 37996. A memorial service will be held in the law school’s Howard H. Baker Rotunda on Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. Knoxnews has more on her life.

Services for Memphis lawyer David Caywood took place this past Saturday at St. John’s Episcopal Church, followed by a private family burial in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 3245 Central Ave., Memphis, TN 38111; the Trezevant Foundation, 177 North Highland St., Memphis, TN 38111; or the charity of the donor’s choice. Caywood died Wednesday.

Memphis lawyer David Caywood died Wednesday (Sept. 7) after suffering a stroke a few weeks earlier. He was 79. As a young lawyer at Burch, Porter & Johnson, Caywood was recruited by his father-in-law, Lucius Burch, to help represent sanitation strikers in Memphis during the height of the civil rights movement. Burch and Caywood met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel the day before King was assassinated. Caywood went on to practice for 50 years mostly in the area of family law. He also represented former state senator John Ford and the wife of a FedEx pilot who was found beaten and burned while attempting to divorce her husband. The Commercial Appeal has more on his life. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Knoxville lawyer David Edwards Smith died Sept. 3 at the age of 86. After serving in the Navy, Smith graduated from the University of Florida and earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He first practiced as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and then became a partner in Hodges, Doughty and Carson, where he practiced until his retirement. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be given to a charity of the donor’s choice. Knoxnews has more on his life.

Harry T. Burn Jr., the son of the Tennessee legislator who cast the “aye” vote in 1920 that ratified the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, died Thursday (Sept. 1) at his residence in Athens. Burn, 78, was an only child, never married and had no children, Knoxville lawyer Wanda Sobieski told Knoxnews. She knew Burn from working with him on a statue of his father Harry Burn Sr. and grandmother Febb Burn proposed for the grounds of the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville. Febb Burn earned her own place in history by writing to her son urging him to vote for amendment. He had originally voted against the measure but changed his vote after reflecting on her note.

Former TBA House of Delegates member and Lafayette attorney Jon Anthony Wells died Aug. 25 after a battle with ALS. He was 77. Funeral services were held Aug. 27 at the Lafayette Church. Wells earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1964 and practiced law on the town square in Lafayette for 48 years. After closing his office, Wells became the full-time executive director of the Lafayette Housing Authority, where he had worked part time since 1970. He was an active member of the community, serving as president of the Chamber of Commerce, president of the Macon County Jaycees, president of the Lafayette Rotary Club, counsel for the Lafayette Industrial Development Board and secretary of the Lafayette Regional Planning Commission. The Macon County Times has more on his life.

Nashville lawyer Jack Norman Jr. died Sunday (Aug. 28) at 89. Norman practiced law for 50 years and retired as settlement judge for the Circuit Courts of Davidson County. He was a member of the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. As a young man, Norman served in the Air National Guard during World War II. Visitation will be Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Calvary Methodist Church, 3701 Hillsboro Pk. Nashville 37215. A memorial service will follow at 3 p.m. The Tennessean has more on his life.

Betty Chiles Nixon, a trailblazing woman in Nashville politics and a relentless advocate for neighborhoods, died Sunday (Aug. 28). She was 80. Nixon served on the Metro Council from 1975 to 1987 and was the first woman to chair the Budget and Finance Committee. She also was the first woman to run for Nashville mayor, in 1987 and again in 1991, losing both times. And she was the first woman to run a statewide political campaign: Walter Mondale’s presidential campaign. Nixon, who previously was married to U.S. District Judge John Nixon, worked as assistant vice chancellor for community, neighborhood and government relations at Vanderbilt University until retiring in 2007. A memorial service will be held later this year. The Tennessean has more on her life.

TBA Senior Counselor and retired Knoxville lawyer B. Joe Guess, 81, died Friday (Aug. 26). Guess served in the U.S. Marine Corps before earning his undergraduate degree from Memphis State University and law degree from University of Tennessee in 1960. He was licensed in 1961 and practiced law until early 2016, most recently with Guess & Guess. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Pat Summit Foundation. Knoxnews has more on his life.

Judge Robert Thomas “Tom” Stinnett died yesterday (Aug. 23) in Chattanooga. He was 72. Stinnett graduated from the University of Tennessee and was commissioned in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. After serving in Italy, he returned to attend the University of Tennessee College of Law, then clerked for his father-in-law James Parrott and the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He practiced law in Knoxville for 20 years at Stone & Hinds before being appointed a U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He relocated to Chattanooga and served there for 16 years before retiring in 2010. The family will receive friends Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Chattanooga's Mountain City Club, 729 Chestnut St. Funeral services will be Monday at 4 p.m. in Knoxville at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 544 N. Broadway. Burial will follow at the church columbarium. A time of remembrance in the church's fellowship hall will wrap up the day.