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IN MEMORIAM
HEATHER ABY
Heather Aby, 46, of Ridgeland, died March 6, 2023. She earned a Juris
Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law and was admitted to
The Mississippi Bar in 2002.
ANDREW NOURSE ALEXANDER III
Andrew Nourse Alexander III, 70, of Greenville, died May 26, 2023.
He earned an undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University.
Alexander then graduated cum laude with his Juris Doctorate from the
University of Mississippi School of Law, where he was editor of the Law
Journal for two years. Upon graduation he joined the Lake Tindall law
firm, where he was a partner and worked his entire career. He was a
Greenville city councilman and later served as attorney for the Greenville
City Council for 20 years.
MILLS EUGENE BARBEE, JR.
Mills Eugene Barbee, Jr., 77, of Hernando, died April 11, 2023. He
earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi and
a Juris Doctorate from the Jackson College of Law (now Mississippi
College School of Law). After clerking for the Mississippi Supreme
Court, he returned to Hernando to practice. Barbee was elected DeSoto
County’s first County Court Judge and served for 26 years. Through this
role, he heard various civil and criminal matters and started the county’s undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a
Youth Court program. After a brief retirement, he was appointed a Senior
Status Judge by the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. In
2018, the Mills E. Barbee Juvenile Justice Center was unveiled in DeSoto
County in his honor. Barbee retired in 2020.
STEPHEN H. BILLER
Stephen H. Biller, 82, of Memphis, Tennessee, died November 27, 2022.
After earning a Juris Doctorate from the Boston University School of
Law, he was recruited by the National Labor Relations Board in Memphis
and subsequently joined the practice of Goodman Glazer as a litigation
attorney. He then joined Heiskell, Donelson, Adams, Bearman, Williams
and Kirsh (now Baker Donelson) as a partner, working in labor and
employment law. Biller later practiced at The Bogatin Law Firm and
The Biller Law Firm. He served as trustee and chair of the Tennessee Bar
Foundation and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
BILLY CLAUD BREAZEALE
Billy Claud Breazeale, 92, of Starkville, died November 27, 2022. A U.S.
Army veteran who served in Germany as a morse code operator, he earned
an undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and a law
degree from Mississippi College School of Law. Breazeale later taught law
classes at Jackson State University and Belhaven University.
THOMAS BROOME
Thomas Broome, 57, of Brandon, died May 21, 2023. He earned an
undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University before earning
a Juris Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law, where he
served on Law Review, Moot Court Board, and as a two-term President
of the Law School Student Bar Association. Broome was admitted to
The Mississippi Bar in 1996 and entered private practice. He also served
as assistant prosecutor for the Town of Florence and was appointed and
44 SUMMER 2023
subsequently elected County Prosecutor for Rankin County. Broome
served as Rankin County Youth Court Judge for more than 20 years,
founding the Rankin County Juvenile Drug Court in 2006 and starting
one of the state’s first two family drug court programs in Rankin County.
He established a Safe Babies Court Team for Rankin County in 2015 to
provide intensive services to children from birth to age three. Broome led
the development of Rankin County’s premier youth detention facility
and frequently visited the detention center and worked with the staff.
Broome chaired the Mississippi Council of Youth Court Judges, served
as an officer and on the board of the National Council of Juvenile and
Family Court Judges, and co-chaired the Mississippi Supreme Court’s
Commission on Children’s Justice.
JOYCE CHILES
Joyce Chiles, 67, of Greenwood, died Sept. 22, 2022. She earned a Juris
Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law and was
admitted to The Mississippi Bar in 1990. Chiles was a former District
Attorney for Leflore, Sunflower, and Washington Counties, as well as an
attorney for the Leflore County Board of Supervisors.
JOHN GAYLAN CLARK
John Gaylan Clark, 71, of Pascagoula, died May 15, 2023. He earned an
Juris Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law. Clark practiced
for more than 44 years throughout Mississippi.
KAY COBB
Kay Cobb, 81, of Lenoir City, Tennessee, died May 26, 2023. She earned
an undergraduate degree from Mississippi University for Women in 1963
and earned a Juris Doctorate in 1978 from the University of Mississippi
School of Law. She practiced law in Oxford until 1983 when she became
Director of Prosecutor Programs at Mississippi Prosecutors College at
UM School of Law. From 1984-1988, she was senior attorney for the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. In 1988 she became a special assistant
attorney general and established a North Mississippi regional office. Cobb
served as state coordinator of the State Wide Education Enforcement and
Prevention System program and served on the President’s Commission on
Model State Drug Laws and the National Alliance for Model State Drug
Law. Cobb was elected to the Mississippi Senate and served from 1992
to 1996. In 1999, Gov. Kirk Fordice appointed her to the Mississippi
Supreme Court as the second female justice in Mississippi history; she
was elected to the position in 2000. Cobb served until 2007 and authored
211 majority opinions during her tenure. She was the 2007 recipient of
the Susie Blue Buchanan Award by the Bar’s Women in the Profession
Section, and received the MUW Medal of Excellence in 1990.
LARITA COOPER STOKES
LaRita Cooper-Stokes, 64, of Jackson, died May 8, 2023. She earned an
undergraduate degree from Jackson State University and a Juris Doctorate
from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.
Cooper-Stokes was admitted to The Mississippi Bar in 1985 and her
practice included work as a staff attorney for the Department of Human
Services. Cooper-Stokes became the senior judge of the Hinds County
Court. She was elected three times and served for 8 years.