IN MEMORIM: Retired judge Squire Williams Jr., 90, dies
From the Herald Leader. I apologize for the delay in posting, but Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Bluegrass, 208 Steele St., Frankfort, KY 40601, or South Frankfort Presbyterian Church Remembrance Trust Fund, 224 Steele St., Frankfort, KY 40601.
Retired judge Squire Williams Jr., 90, dies
BY CHARLIE PEARL
July 16, 2008Squire N. Williams Jr. retired as Franklin Circuit Court judge in 1983. He died Tuesday at home.
Squire N. Williams Jr. - a retired Franklin Circuit Court judge who also served 10 years on the Kentucky Court of Appeals when it was the state's supreme court - died at his home in Two Creeks subdivision Tuesday. He was 90.
Williams also served as an assistant attorney general, a Franklin County judge pro tem and trial commissioner, and on the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at South Frankfort Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in Frankfort Cemetery.
Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the church.
"He was a very dear friend," said retired Franklin Circuit Judge Henry Meigs, who now lives in Louisville.
"We were colleagues on the bench for 15 years and he had the gentlest nature of anybody I ever knew. If he had any enemies they stayed hidden because I didn't know of any."We had a very happy cooperation in Franklin Circuit Court. He was affable and enjoyable company and we played golf together a lot."
Retired Franklin Circuit Judge William L. Graham was Williams' successor when he retired in December 1983.
"He was very helpful to me when I first became judge and I appreciated it," Graham said. "He was a great friend and a fine, fine judge. As is typical in Franklin Circuit Court, he handled a lot of difficult cases and he handled them well. He had great respect among the bar association and his fellow judicial officers.
"He was a gentle spirit and he respected people from all walks of life who came before him."
Franklin Commonwealth's Attorney Larry Cleveland said he practiced in front of Williams for years until he retired.
"I thought he hung the moon," Cleveland said. "He was just a great judge."
Hearing of his death saddened Cleveland.
"He was heroic to me and I always looked forward to seeing him at any event," Cleveland said.
Retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice John Palmore said he and Williams went on the Court of Appeals at the same time in November 1959.
"I will miss Squire," Palmore said. "He was a wonderful, wonderful guy and an excellent judge. He was fair and honest. Everybody loved him. He and his late wife, Doris, were two of the most lovable people I have ever known."
One of Williams' daughters, retired Franklin Circuit Court Clerk Janice Marshall, said her father "was the strongest person I have ever known. He taught me to be a good citizen and a compassionate person.
He gave me the tools to live a good life."She said her father "came from good stock. His parents were kind, considerate, loving and church-going, but not material people. And my dad was very frugal. He did well in life but he certainly didn't go out and buy a Mercedes every year."
Marshall worked as court administrator for her father and Meigs in Franklin Circuit Court from 1975 to 1985, "and dad taught me a good work ethic." She was circuit clerk from 1988 to 2006.
In her childhood, "all dad had to do was hold my hand and that would cure whatever ailed me at the time," she said. "I think our roles reversed in his last years."
Marshall, and her husband, Les, lived with Williams the last nine years.
"Mom died in 1998 and we moved in with him a year later," Janice Marshall said.
"He had Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure and he fell and broke his back about three years ago. He died of old age. He developed an infection a couple of weeks ago and couldn't get over it. He died very peacefully at home."
Born in Frenchburg in Menifee County on Nov. 8, 1917, Squire Needham Williams Jr. received his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1942. At UK he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
During World War II he was an officer and aviator in the Pacific Fleet. After the war, he began his career as an attorney and spent most of his years as a judge.
He was a member of the American, Kentucky and Franklin County Bar associations, VFW Post 4075, South Frankfort Presbyterian Church where he was an elder, and the Frankfort Country Club. He served on the Salvation Army Board.
In addition to his daughter, Janice Marshall, other survivors include one son, Squire N. "Will" Williams III, Frankfort, and two daughters, Laura Majnich, Roanoke, Va., and Kathy Williams, Lexington; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Doris Williams, his sister, Geraldine Warren; and his parents, Squire Needham Williams Sr. and Mary Lee Spencer Williams.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Bluegrass, 208 Steele St., Frankfort, KY 40601, or South Frankfort Presbyterian Church Remembrance Trust Fund, 224 Steele St., Frankfort, KY 40601.
