PHILIP GRAHAM ALSTON Philip Graham Alston, aged 62, of Little Rock and Harrison, died Saturday, May 31, 1980, after a long illness. Mr. Alston was a lawyer and served as law clerk to the late federal Judge Harry J. Lemley of the Eastern District of Arkansas from 1948 to 1958. From 1958 to 1975 he served as clerk for federal Judge J. Smith Henley of the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was senior law clerk to Judge Henley from 1975 until his death. A native of Texarkana, Mr. Alston received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and was admitted to practice in Arkansas in 1940. He first served as a special attorney for the federal Justice Department's Land Division. He also served as an assistant United States attorney for the Western District of Arkansas before entering three years of private practice in Texarkana. From 1946 to 1948 he was Texarkana city attorney. His law partner had been federal Judge Henry Woods now of Little Rock. Mr. Alston anonymously authored an informal newsletter called "The Fulminator". He used the newsletter to satirically depict local political personalities and events. He is survived by a son, Philip G. Alston, II of Fort McClellan, Ala., and a granddaughter.
A, GENE SYKES A. Gene Sykes, aged 63, of N. Little Rock, a lawyer and former state insurance commissioner, died Sunday, June 15th. He had recently retired as chief attorney for the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. In September 1970, the late Governor Winthrop Rockefeller appointed Mr. Sykes, a veteran insurance executive, as insurance commissioner. He served in that position until resigning to enter private law practice in September 1972. He graduated from the Little Rock Junior College and received his law degree from the University of Arkansas. In 1972, he joined the law firm of Kemp and Whitmore and worked as assistant city attorney during the time Joseph C. Kemp was Little Rock city attorney. He became vicepresident of First Pyramid Life Insurance Company in 1974. In the same year, Mr. Sykes was elected president and chairman of the Board of Eden Isle Corporation, owner of a resort and residential development of First Pyramid. He joined the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board as chief attorney in 1978. Mr. Sykes was a veteran of World War II and was recalled to active duty during the Korean War in 1951. He was a first lieutenant in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. He later was a captain in the Army Reserve. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church at North Little Rock and served on the vocations committee of the Presbytery of Arkansas-Union. He was a member of the Board of the Good Shepherd Ecumenical Retirement Center and had been a Board member of the Family Service Agency of Pulaski County. Mr. Sykes was a member of the Kappa Alpha social fraternity, Phi Theta Kappa scholastic honor society, Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity and the Arkansas Sheriffs Association. He was a member of the Pulaski County Bar Association and the Arkansas Bar Association. He was also a member of the Elks Club of North Little Rock, the Blue Goose International Insurance Fraternity and the Optimist International. Mr. Sykes is survived by his wife, Mrs. Faye Cook Sykes; a son, Clayton E. Sykes of Albuquerque, N.M., and two sisters, Mrs. Edell Thompson of Blytheville and Mrs. Della Faye Corkran of Phoenix, Arizona.
JOHN MORTON LOFTON John Morton Lofton, aged 75, of 3934 South Lookout in Little Rock, died Thursday, April 17, 1980. He had been a lawyer for the past 51 years and a member of the Arkansas Bar Association since 1953. He was also a member of the Pulaski County Bar Association and a former President. Mr. Lofton was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock. He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Edward L. Wright, Jr. of Little Rock and a grandchild.
JAMES HERBERT MOODY Retired lawyer James Herbert Moody, aged 73, of Bald Knob, died Thursday, May 8, 1980. He was a former White County judge from 1938 to 1942. During his term as judge, he established the White County Library and the White County Health Department, both located at Searcy. Mr. Moody served in the state House of Representatives from 1950 to 1960 and was prosecuting attorney from 1942 to 1950. He was also a former mayor of Bald Knob and owner of the Bald Knob Telephone Company. Mr. Moody was a member of the Bald Knob Country Club, the Arkansas Bar Association and a Mason. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the First United Methodist Church at Bald Knob. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. LaDelle Honea Moody, and a brother, Harold Moody of Atkins.
TALBOT FEILD, JR. Former state representative Talbot Feild, Jr., aged 67, of Hope, died Sunday, May 11. A native of Hope, Arkansas, he was a graduate of Hope High School and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and received his law degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1941. Mr. Feild served in the state legislature for 22 years, While serving, he was speaker pro tempore and chairman of the Rules and Revenue and Taxation Committees. He was a member of the Legislative Council and National Conference of State Legislative Leaders. He was a member, director and secretary of the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation, past director of the Hope Chamber of Commerce and Committee of 100, the Hope industrial development group. Mr. Feild was past president and secretary-treasurer of the Hempstead County Bar Association and secretarytreasurer of the Southwest Arkansas Bar Association. He was a member of the Arkansas Bar Association for 38 years and served on several Bar Association Committees. He was a member and past senior warden of the St. Mark's Episcopal Church and president of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Association. For more than 10 years, he was the local Red Cross chairman. Mr. Feild was a veteran of World War II. Survivors are his wife, Mrs. Carlene Bruner Feild; a daughter, Miss Anna Catherine Feild of Hope; and a sister, Mrs. Hattie Ann Byrd of Texarkana.
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