Class of 1949
(Notes are posted in the order they were received, with the newest posts on top.)
Lawrence F. Stewart, 86, of Winchester, TN, passed away on March 20, 2008. He completed his secondary education in the public school system prior to entering Sewanee Military Academy. After graduation in 1939, he attended the University of the South until the beginning of World War II. He entered the military service in 1942, receiving his basic and advanced cavalry training at Fort Riley, Kansas. Following his commission as a Lieutenant, he served as a part of the 1st Cavalry Division, 124th Regiment in the China-Burma-India Theater. After being injured in combat training, he returned to active duty and at the close of the war he ran a demarcation camp in Minchow, China. Following his discharge from the military with the rank of captain, he returned to Winchester and married his childhood sweetheart, Catherine Beulah Franklin. He was fond of saying that they joined the Methodist Church together on April 20th, 1930, and were married there on December 12th,1945. He returned to the University of the South before transferring to our Law School where he graduated in 1949. He began his law career practicing with his father in Nashville, TN, but soon returned to Winchester where he practiced law from 1950-1966. Governor Frank Clement appointed him to the position of Chancellor for the 12th Chancery Division for the State of Tennessee. This judgeship covered 14 counties in southern and southeastern Tennessee. He served this district until his retirement on October 1, 1989. After his retirement he remained active in the local lawyer organizations and in his community.
Gleaves M. Love, 83, of Memphis, Tenn., passed away August 13, 2007.
Farris Evans, Sr., 80, was born on August 28, 1925 in El Dorado, Arkansas and died, Wednesday, August 9, 2006 at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis. He spent his youth in Louisiana, was a member of Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis, served as board member for YMCA, was a former member of the 100 Club, was a member of the Chickasaw Country Club, was a Mason and a Shriner. Farris also served as a board member during the building of the Briarcrest Christian School System. Farris enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II serving aboard the submarine, USS PLAICE SS290 and participated in the liberation of the Philippine Islands. After the war ended, Farris entered Law school at Vanderbilt University earning a Doctorate of Jurisprudence in 1949, and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar. During the Korean Conflict, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps tank division and was among the first JAG officers serving in the Corps. After the conflict ended, he settled in Memphis and founded Farris Evans Insurance Agency, Inc. in 1955. In 1970 he established the EBCO Group where he was the active CEO. Farris was married to Violet Bivens in 1957. He leaves two sons, Farris Evans, Jr. and Stan Evans (Jeannie Shell Evans) and two grandchildren, Sara Catherine Evans and Drew Evans.
The attorneys and staff of Stites & Harbison contributed the $1,750 sponsorship fee to Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc. allowing them to name the puppy. They voted to call him “Charlie” in honor of Mr. Warfield.
Mr. Warfield's 50-plus years in the legal professions have focused on business and commercial matters, environmental law, litigation and appeals. He graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1949 and is one of Stites & Harbison's eight Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Milton P. Rice was one of three World War II veterans who wrote and presented an account of his wartime experience at Lambuth College in April. "None of us went into this looking to be heroic," Rice said. "We wanted to get the job done and get home alive.
Rice earned his undergraduate degree at Lambuth in 1942 and then joined the Navy, serving on the USS James O'Hara Attack Transport, which won several battles in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. "You learned that one man had to be in charge, and every man had to do his job," he said, noting that he and his shipmates gained confidence from each battle experience.
Rice called the G.I. Bill "the war's greatest gift. I came out of the war knowing I needed more schooling, and I had the chance to get it." After graduating from Vanderbilt Law School, Rice had a lengthy career in industry and state governing, serving as state attorney general in 1974 and state insurance commissioner from 1969 to 1971. He retired in 1991. He and his wife, Sara, live in Nashville.
Evans Harvill has been selected to the Red Coat Society of Austin Peay University. Harvill, whose father was president of Austin Peay from 1946 to 1966, literally grew up around Austin Peay and has been a longtime supporter of Austin Peay athletics.
Marshall Edgar Derryberry III passed away on November 7, 2005. Derryberry served in a naval intelligence unit during World War II and retired from the Naval Reserve as a commander. After retiring from J.C. Bradford, he volunteered at St. Thomas Hospital and delivered Meals on Wheels for St. Luke's Community House.
Branstetter is the senior member of Branstetter Stranch & Jennings, the Nashville law firm that brought the class action lawsuit in Tennessee Circuit Court that resulted in a $2.9 million settlement directed by the court to endow the new program at Vanderbilt Law School.
Two of the principal attorneys for the plaintiff class in the case are also Vanderbilt Law School graduates. Dewey Branstetter, who earned his undergraduate degree in 1978 and his law degree from Vanderbilt in 1981, is Cecil Branstetter's son. Gerard Stranch, a 2003 law school graduate, is his grandson.
The civil litigation and dispute resolution program, which will be directed by noted legal scholar Richard Nagareda, whose work focuses on complex litigation, is designed to prepare graduates to enter sophisticated litigation practice. Click here to see the dedication ceremony.
Do you have news you would like to share or just want to let everyone know what you are up to these days? Submit your class note online, e-mail Grace Renshaw or call 615-322-2606.
Please check the "Alumni MIA" list to see if you can help us find any of your "lost" classmates!
