WILBUR
H.
BOTTS
Wilbur H. Botts, 77, of DeWitt died in October. He was a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce of DeWitt and the American Legion. He was Past Chair of the Arkansas National Heritage Committee and served on the Board of Directors of the DeWitt Bank and Trust Co. Survivors include his wife, Kathleen Hagan Botts of DeWitt; one son, Bill Botts of Marianna; one daughter, Mary Carr of DeWitt; two sisters and three grandchildren.
JUSTICE GEORGE ROSE SMITH
jllstice George Rose Smith
Writtell by
J.
GOStOIl Williomsoll
justice George Rose Smith of Little Rock died on Octubff 20,1992, at the age of 81. A native of Little Rock and a graduate in 1933 of the U of A School of Law in Fayetteville, he practiced law for 15 years with Rose, Hemmingway, Cantrell and Loughborough in Little Rock. 38
ARKANSAS LAWYER
JANUARY 1993
During that period, he married Peg Newton of Little Rock, taught in the the Carmachel Night Law School and served for 3 1/2 years in the Army Air Corps' judge Advocate Section. In 1948, judge Smith was elected to the Supreme Court, where he served continuously for 38 years until his retirement on December 31, 1986 at the age of 75. At that time he had served more years on an appellate bench than any other appellate judge then serving in the United States. But it was more than the term of years or the 2000 plus opinions he wrote that made his judicial service so outstanding. justice Smith's judgment was very sound, based on thorough preparation, experience and vast knowledge of the law. He had a brilliant yet open mind, coupled with judicial courage and intellectual honesty. His opinions were concise and complete and written in clear, declarative sentences which were always grammatically perfect. He was the author of the Court's internal procedures and its published ruJes of practice. For a number of years justice Smith taught at the Appellate judges Seminar at ew York University and elsewhere, and rus methods of opinion writing, as well as his law review articles on appellate practice, are still widely taught and followed. The depth of justice Smith's intellect, skills and character was demonstrated by rus hobbies. He was an accomplished brick mason, carpenter and electrician. His love of words led to his creation of crossword puzzles, some 50 of which were published during his last 20 years induding a number in the ew York Times and National Observer. He had a remarkable collection of 444 golf balls, each unique, which he gathered
in the days he used to jog along side of Rebsamen Park Golf Course. Bad1 evening about dusk since 1964, judge Smith served food on his terrace to wild raccoons in numbers which varied from 12 to 27. For 24 years, the Smiths' Christmas card has displayed a different photograph of the raccoons performing some novel task, like trimming a Christmas tree or tying up presents, for wltid1 judge Smith had cleverly enticed the raccoons to pose. He was not only an outstanding judge but a remarkable human. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Peg Smith; a daughter, Dr. Laurie Smith Fisher of Clarksville; and a grandson, Michael G. Fisher. Memorials may be made to the Arkansas Bar Foundation for the justice George Rose Smith Scholarship Fund.
JAMES
K. YOUNG
james K. Young, 70, of Russellville, who served as City Attorney for 25 years, died in October. He was a partner in the Young & Finley Law Firm. He was a former state representative, a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, the Razorback Lettermen's Club and First Christian Church. Survivors include his wife, Marianne Young; a daughter, Elizabeth Gill ; a stepson, Donald P. Higgins; two stepdaughters, Ann Baca and Susan Carver; and seven granddilldren. Memorials may be made to the Arkansas Tech University endowment fund or to First Christian Church of Russellville.