In Memoriam

Judge Eugene “Kayo”

Harris of Pine Bluff died August 22, 2021, at the age of 86. Judge Harris graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1953. He received a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1957. Following graduation from University Law School in 1957, Judge Harris entered active duty in the United States Navy for three years. Years later, he would retire from the Naval Reserves achieving the rank of Commander. Judge Harris graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1962. Judge Harris went on to practice law in Pine Bluff for 10 years before being elected to the bench in 1972, at which time he was the youngest trial judge in Arkansas. Judge Harris retired in 2002 after 30 years of distinguished service to the citizens of Jefferson and Lincoln County.

William L. Patton,

Jr., (Bill), of Little Rock died October 21, 2021, at the age of 84. He graduated from Hayward County High School in 1955 and from Davidson College in 1959. Upon graduating from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1964, Bill was a clerk for Arkansas Supreme Court Judge Sam Robinson and then worked as Assistant Attorney General under Bruce Bennett. Thereafter, he clerked for Judge Pat Mehaffy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. In December 1966, he joined the law firm Smith Williams Friday and Bowen, now Friday Eldredge & Clark.

George Ewing Pike,

Jr., of Little Rock died October 11, 2021, at the age of 84. He graduated from Hendrix College in 1959 and Harvard Law School in 1962. George served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1955-1961. He practiced at the law firm Friday, Eldredge & Clark for 29 years before entering solo practice. In 1985, he was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.

John Bertran Plegge

of Little Rock died August 5, 2021, at the age of 86. He attended Arkansas Tech and then obtained his Juris Doctorate degree from Arkansas Law School. He was a graduate of the National Judicial College and the American Academy of Judicial Education. He served as legislative representative in the Arkansas General Assembly from 1971-1972, and was appointed Municipal Traffic Judge by then Governor Bill Clinton in 1986. He was elected as 6th Judicial District, 7th Division, Circuit Court Judge in 1989, where he served until 2002. From 1992-2000 he was appointed to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission by the Arkansas Supreme Court. In 2003 he was appointed as Supreme Court presiding Special Judge and also joined the firm of Watts, Donovan, and Tilly, P.A.

The information contained herein is provided from the members' obituaries.

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