MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Stevens, Capps

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICE OF JUDGE FRANK DAVID BARBER. 

WHEREAS, our dear friend, Frank David Barber, departed this life on March 3, 1997, after a long and distinguished career of service to his state and his country; and

WHEREAS, Frank Barber, a native of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was reared in Hattiesburg and Laurel; and

WHEREAS, he began college as a pre-law student at the University of Mississippi and, after his return from military service, enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi where, in 1954, he received a bachelor's degree in history, political science and English; and

WHEREAS, at the University of Southern Mississippi, he was elected president of the student government, was a charter member of Omicron Delta Kappa, was elected to the Student Hall of Fame and was an Honor Debater; and

WHEREAS, he returned to Ole Miss for his freshman year of law school and transferred in his second year to the National Law Center of George Washington University where he received his juris doctorate in 1957; and

WHEREAS, in 1958, he passed the bar examinations in both the District of Columbia and the State of Mississippi and was admitted to practice in the courts of both jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, Frank Barber's governmental service included the following: staff member, Internal Security Subcommittee, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 1955-1958; counsel, General Legislative Investigating Committee, State of Mississippi, 1958-1959; Mississippi State Senate 1960-1964;

Executive Assistant to the Governor of Mississippi and State Extradition Officer, 1964-1968; attorney, Industrial Department, Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board, 1968-1972; Legislative Assistant to United States Senator James O. Eastland, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 1972-1978; general counsel, Contractors Board, State of Mississippi, 1981-1989; Secretary, Mississippi State Senate, 1989-1991; Special Assistant Attorney General, State of Mississippi, 1992-1994; judge, Mississippi Court of Appeals, 1995 until his death; and

WHEREAS, active in veterans' affairs, he was the immediate past commander of American Legion Post 110, a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the past judge advocate of VFW Posts in Jackson and Hattiesburg and named an honorary colonel on the military staffs of governors of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky; and

WHEREAS, he received the Award of Merit for Project Cairo presented by the American Association of State and Local History, was listed in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in the World; and

WHEREAS, this Christian gentleman was a devout member of St. Richard's Catholic Church and devoted much time and energy to his community and profession in many ways through his Masonic memberships, his fraternal affiliations including Sigma Nu, Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Kappa Delta, Alpha Gamma Rho and Phi Alpha Delta and his professional memberships in the State, American, Federal and Fifth Circuit Bar Associations, Mississippi and American Trial Lawyers Associations and Mississippi Attorneys for Constitutional Justice; and

WHEREAS, he was married to Mary Jane Burch Barber and had seven children and seven grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, because of his numerous accomplishments in public and private life, Frank Barber will not soon be forgotten by the people of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend the life and public service of our dear friend, Frank D. Barber, and offer our deepest condolences to his wife and family on this sad occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Mrs. Mary Jane Burch Barber and to members of the Capitol Press Corps.