FOREST, Miss.–Making it to nearly 100 years, former Miss. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Noble Lee lived a long and full life. He passed away Wednesday at his home in Forest. He was 99.
A statement from the state Supreme Court detailed Lee’s life and career in law.
He served as a FBI agent from 1942 to 1944, then in the Naval Reserves during the last year of WWII, where he saw action in the South Pacific. When he got out, he decided to become a lawyer.
In the 1950s he served as a DA.
He was appointed to the state Supreme Court by former Gov. Cliff Finch in 1976. He retired in 1993.
“Some of the most significant advancements for the judicial branch of government during the 20th Century were implemented under his leadership,” said Chief Justice Bill Waller. “He gave leadership to the enactment of legislation that created the Administrative Office of Courts and the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals, as he predicted, has been an excellent solution to allow timely disposition of cases and eliminate the backlog that had long plagued the appellate court.”
Lee was a native of Madison County. Ott and Lee Funeral Home is handling arrangements, which were not complete Thursday morning.
