Roy Noble Lee (October 19, 1915 – January 21, 2015) was an American judge who served as Justice of the

Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the Supreme court, highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1 ...

from 1976 to 1983, and as chief justice from 1987 to 1993. Born in

Madison County, Mississippi Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,145. The county seat is Canton. The county is named for Founding Father and U.S. President James Madison. Madison County is pa ...

, Lee was the son of

Percy Mercer Lee Percy Mercer Lee (c. 1893 – February 6, 1969)"Retired Chief Justice Lee Taken By Death", ''Biloxi Sun Herald'' (February 7, 1969), p. 2. was a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1950 to 1966, serving as chief justice from 1964 to ...

, who also served on the state supreme court. Lee received his bachelor's degree from

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private university affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention and located in Clinton, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1826, MC is the second oldest Baptists, Baptist-affiliated college or university in ...

and his law degree from

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842. The oldest campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842–1861 The university was founded by the Cumberl ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. He was an FBI agent from 1942 to 1944 and served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

."Sid Salter: Roy Noble Lee helped Modernize state courts"
''Daily Journal'' (dailyjournal.com), Tupelo, Mississippi, January 25, 2015, updated May 18, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2021. Lee was a state district attorney and then a state circuit court judge. Following the resignation of Justice Henry Lee Rodgers in January 1976, Governor Cliff Finch appointed Lee to the seat, and Lee was sworn in on March 1, 1976. Leslie Southwick
Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996
18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998). In the primary election that Summer, Lee "made a personal campaign through the district", and won more than 70% of the vote. He ran unopposed in the general election. Lee was reelected without opposition in 1984, and announced in 1992 that he would retire rather than running for a third full term. Lee died in January 2015 at his home in

Forest, Mississippi Forest is a city and the county seat of Scott County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,684 at the 2010 census and the population is a minority-majority. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a tot ...

, aged 99.

References

1915 births 2015 deaths People from Madison County, Mississippi Mississippi College alumni Cumberland School of Law alumni Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi Mississippi state court judges Military personnel from Mississippi Federal Bureau of Investigation agents United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy reservists People from Forest, Mississippi 20th-century American judges {{Mississippi-state-judge-stub