Retired Chief Justice Roy Noble Lee

SERVICES: 11 AM MONDAY, JANUARY 26,2015 AT FOREST BAPTIST CHURCH BURIAL: EASTERN CEMETERY IN FOREST VISITATION: 2-5 PM SUNDAY IN TRINITY HALL AT FOREST BAPTIST CHURCH AND 9-10:30 AM MONDAY IN TRINITY HALL Honorable Roy Noble Lee, Sr. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, Ret. Retired Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Noble Lee, 99, died at his Forest home on January 21, 2015. Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 26, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. at Forest Baptist Church. Justice Lee’s family will receive friends in Trinity Hall at the church Sunday January 25th from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and from 9:00 to 10:30 Monday prior to the service. Heaven has welcomed a man of great stature, a man of service, who deeply loved his family, his country, the law, his friends and his Lord and Savior. He "fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith." II Tim 4:7. Justice Roy Noble Lee lived a lengthy life marked by an honorable career of service to his country, the law, and above all, a deep love for his family. Justice Lee was born on October 19, 1915, to Percy Mercer Lee and Hattie May (Nutt) Lee, the second of eight siblings. He was educated in the Forest Public Schools and was a life-long member of the Forest Baptist Church where he served as Deacon and Sunday School teacher. Justice Lee graduated from Mississippi College with distinction in 1938, where he was accomplished in sports, academics and was elected president of the Student Government. He received his law degree with distinction from the Cumberland University School of Law and was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1939. While attending Mississippi College, Justice Lee encountered the very energetic and joyful Sue Epting, who until the day she died thought (and said) Roy Noble Lee was the “greatest man on earth.” They were married on May 18, 1941, in Forest, Mississippi, and together they created a loving home, filled with five happy children. Doors were always open at the Lee home. It was an example of love, respect and laughter and a favorite place for family, friends and guests. They invited their friends to their hunting and fishing camps. Justice Lee’s oldest son, Forest attorney Thomas D. Lee, put it best when he said "we had the best daddy and the best momma any children could have." One of the strongest influences in his life was that of his father, the late Percy Mercer Lee, who, as lawyer, District Attorney, Circuit Court Judge and later Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1950 to 1965, serving as Chief Justice from 1964 to 1965, set an example of keen intellect, high integrity, and public service in the legal profession. Justice Lee explained that his father, "never pressured me to be a lawyer, but he made me available to the law.” But from that "from the time I was 9 years old I wanted to be a lawyer. I never thought of doing anything else." In fact, a young Roy Noble Lee tried his first criminal trial when he was just 15. He had no law degree, no legal training, and no license. “I was sitting in the courtroom in Brandon and a case was called where a man was charged with assault and battery,” Justice Lee said in an interview recorded for the Center for Oral History at the University of Southern Mississippi. “I jumped up and said, ‘Judge, I’m not a lawyer, but this fellow doesn’t have one and I’d like to defend him.’ The judge paused and then said, ‘Alright. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to talk to your witnesses, if you’ve got any’. I didn’t have any witnesses.” When he returned, the courtroom was packed. After closing arguments, the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty. “I had ridden over from Forest with my father, and when we got into the car he hadn’t said a word and I hadn’t said a word,” Justice Lee told the Center. “He finally turned around looked at me and said, ‘Son, you’re going to make a lawyer.” The quiet influence of Justice Lee’s father set an example of public service that would mark both the life and the long and storied career of Roy Noble Lee. Indeed, when Justice Lee first ran for Circuit Judge, speaking of the honorable career of his father, the late Chief Justice Percy Mercer Lee, he said that his “family background and experience have inspired me to desire to be of further service to the people of this District." Shortly after the Lees married, Roy Noble served as an FBI agent from 1942 to 1944, working for Director Hoover on matters throughout the United States. But with our nation engaged in World War II, the call of service again led Roy Noble Lee to send his letter of resignation to Director J. Edgar Hoover so that he could volunteer for service in the armed forces. Director Hoover apparently unhappy with his resignation, personally wrote back reluctantly granting the request, stating: “ … this Bureau has no objection to your accepting a commission in the armed forces providing such commission is likely to involve assignment to combat duty, and you may consider this letter as a release for that purpose.” He served in the South Pacific aboard the Destroyer USS Burrows and was honorably discharged May 4, 1946. He returned to his beloved Forest, to his family, his law practice, and his favorite hunting and fishing places. He often said “I would rather eat a fried blue gill bream, than the best steak in a New York restaurant.” Justice Lee enjoyed a busy law practice from 1946 to 1951. From 1951 to 1964, he was elected District Attorney for the 8th Judicial District then covering Scott, Rankin, Leake, Neshoba, and Newton Counties. In 1975 he was elected Circuit Judge for the same district and served until 1976. He served on the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1976 until January 1, 1993, serving as the High Court's Chief Justice from 1987 until his retirement on January 4, 1993. When he became Chief Justice in 1987, it made Roy Noble Lee and Percy Mercer Lee the only father and son ever to serve as Chief Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court. After his retirement, Chief Justice Lee was “of Council” for Lee & Lee Attorneys, enjoying conversation with former clients and friends who would come by to see him. This continued until he was 96. He remained Chairman of the Board of Ott & Lee Funeral Home, Inc. until his death. In 1994, at the age of 79, he tried his last lawsuit in Federal Court and was successful in obtaining a substantial jury verdict. Justice Lee was active in various professional and social organizations including the Mississippi Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the Trial Lawyers Association, the VFW, the Forest Lions Club and the Former FBI Agents Society. He served on the board of Trustees of Mississippi College and received many honors and recognitions throughout his life including Mississippi College Alumnus of the Year 1995, Cumberland Law School Alumnus of the Year 1992, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Mississippi College and was selected as the 1996 Citizen of the Year by the Forest Chamber of Commerce. An avid hunter, Justice Lee loved the outdoors almost as much as he loved the law. In fact he was known to hunt in the early morning before work dressed in a shirt and tie. His love of hunting and conservation is perhaps best expressed in the simple eloquence of his own words in the 1982 Supreme Court case Strong v. Bostick. “Many men, including this writer, feel that a person who has never seen squirrels jump from limb to limb in the deep swamp on a frosty Fall morning; or has never heard a wild turkey gobble in April or seen him strut during mating

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