Class of 1954
(Notes posted in the order they were received, with the newest posts on top.)
Ernest Bland Williams III died April 20, 2008 of complications from a bicycle accident in October 2007. Born in Memphis on August 9,1928, he graduated from Sewanee Military Academy in 1946, earned his B.A. at Vanderbilt University in 1949, and graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 1954. He spent two years in the Air Force during the Korean War as an instructor in Atomic, Bacteriological and Chemical defense. He began his law practice in Memphis at Chandler Sheperd Heiskell & Williams, a law firm founded by his father and later served as a managing partner in the firm, which is now Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. He founded the firm's first Commercial Law Group and chaired the Interest and Usury Subcommittee of the Commercial Financial Services Committee of the American Bar Association. He was a past president of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and taught commercial law at the University of Memphis School of Law, where he was one of the original instructors. A life-long pilot, he was a past president of the Memphis Soaring Society, the oldest continuously
operating soaring club in the United States. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jane W. Williams.
Steve Potts, former Ethics Resource Center Chair - who last year re-entered public service as White House Associate Counsel long after completing a stint as Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics - has been awarded the 2007 Stanley C. Pace Ethics in Leadership Award by the ERC Fellows Program for his years of work to promote ethical conduct in the public and private sectors.
"Steve Potts exemplifies life-long dedication to high ethical standards, and to the effort to promote such standards across every organization, public or private," ERC's President, Dr. Patricia Harned, said of the 77-year-old Potts. "At a time in life when many would happily enjoy the leisure of retirement, Steve continued to exercise that commitment and even accepted yet another public service post. And we were privileged to have Steve as ERC Chair at a critical period in our growth, from 2004 to 2007."
Potts' public service record began with service in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1954 to 1957, when Dwight Eisenhower was president. He served as Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, an independent office reporting directly to the President, under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton between 1990 and 2000.
"My experiences with OGE and ERC have given me great appreciation for the need to build ethical considerations into every decision that an organization makes," Potts said. He also noted that, "Durable success is fostered by ethical leadership"
A former partner with the law firm of Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge in Washington, Potts served on a special panel appointed by the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents in 2007 to examine the activities of former Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small and recommend appropriate changes in Smithsonian policies and procedures.
William Little Frierson II passed away Monday, Sept. 11, 2006, in a local hospital. He was 76. Born July 11, 1930, to Susan Lodor and Robert Payne Frierson, Mr. Frierson was named for his grandfather, a former Chattanooga mayor who served as a solicitor general of the United States in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson.
Mr. Frierson was graduated from Bright School and McCallie School and received his bachelor's and law degrees from Vanderbilt University, where he was president of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and captain of the wrestling team. Mr. Frierson attended Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and was commissioned an ensign upon graduation. During his three-year tour of Navy duty, first in Chicago and later in San Francisco, he served on the Judge Advocate General's staff. Following his naval discharge, he returned to Chattanooga and joined his close friend, H.M. Poss, in business at Tennessee Hotel Supply Co.
In 1960, he married the former Amy Louise Hoover, who survives him. Mr. Frierson went to work for First Federal Savings and Loan Association in 1962, where he served as senior vice president and counsel and head of the mortgage loan department. He retired in 1994 after more than 30 years of employment. Mr. Frierson was a communicant of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and served several terms on the vestry and as a lay reader. He was president of the Chattanooga Symphony Association and the Chattanooga Arts Council and chairman of the advisory board of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.
Mr. Frierson was a member of the boards of the Metropolitan Council for Community Services, the Hunter Museum and the Chattanooga Nature Center. He belonged to the American, Tennessee and Chattanooga Bar associations, the Estate Planning Council, the American Bridge League, the Mountain City Club and the Lookout Mountain Fairyland Club.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Dabney Frierson James; three nieces, Dr. Dabney James and Maddin J. Corey, of Chattanooga, and Courtney J. Zirkle, of Knoxville; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Sally H. and Thomas A. Harris; three nephews, T. Alan Harris Jr., of Houston, Timothy F. Harris, of Greenville, S.C., and Dr. William H. Harris, of Knoxville; and a number of devoted cousins, including Silas Williams Jr. and James Thomas Williams III. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Bright School or a favorite charity.
John H. Wilbur, Sr. of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, passed away peacefully April 12, 2006 at the Hadlow Center of Community Hospice. He was born February 25, 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to Jacksonville in 1963. John was a 1951 graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He was a member of Order of the Coif, President of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, editor of the Law Review and a Fullbright Scholar to England.
He served in the U.S. Army JAG Corps and retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. During his military career, John worked in Maryland at Ft. Holabird in the Intelligence Department, where he was in charge of settling claims for the Texas city disasters. He was then transferred to the Pentagon, where prior to his retirement, he was awarded a distinguished service metal.
John practiced law at the firm of Walter Armstrong in Tennessee until he moved to Jacksonville in 1963, where he worked at the law firm of Mahoney, Hadlow, Chambers & Adams until he founded the law firm of Wilbur & Milam in 1974. In 1984 he founded the law firm of Wilbur & Allen where he practiced until his death. John practiced before the U. S. Supreme Court and was one of 50 attorneys to participate in the Cultural Exchange in China.
Howell C. ("Red") Smith, Jr. - Vanderbilt University Law School was one of 10 academic institutions and charities to receive major gifts from the estate of Red Smith. Through his estate, Mr. Smith gave over $400,000 to the law school, along with gifts of more than $8 million to nine other institutions and charities.
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