Joe G. Moss

Services for Joe G. Moss will be held Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Raymond, Mississippi. Visitation will be at Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home, 350 High Street, Jackson between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. today and between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at First Baptist Church of Raymond. Burial will be at Raymond Cemetery with Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Judge Moss, 86, of Raymond, departed this life Sunday, March 22, 2009, peacefully at his home.
A native of Jackson, he was born on April 26, 1922 to John G. and Maggibelle E. Moss. He attended elementary and junior high school in Jackson and transferred from Central High School to Hinds Agricultural High School in Raymond for his senior year and continued on to Hinds Junior College to complete his associate degree. At both levels he was active in sports and in campus activities. He was captain of the "Baby Eagles" football team and led Raymond's track team to first place in the Middle Mississippi Track Meet. He was named Best Senior Athlete and he was voted Mr. Raymond High. In junior college, he played first-string end on offense and defense for the Eagles and as a sophomore in 1943 he served as vice president of his class and was voted a Campus Favorite.
At Hinds, he met his wife, Permelia (Pam) Williams and after he entered the armed forces, they were married on June 6, 1944. In the service, Moss served as first Sergeant with the 281st Combat Engineers Battalion in the U. S. Army where he served a tour of duty in France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria before his discharge at the end of World War II. He received three battle stars for the battles of Central Europe, Rhineland, and Ardennes (known as the Battle of the Bulge). He was honorably discharged at the close of the conflict and finished his education at Hinds and earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Mississippi State University (1948).
After graduation from MSU, Moss taught high school agriculture in Clinton and also farmed during that time. He earned his law degree at Jackson School of Law (now Mississippi College School of Law) and practiced law in Raymond from 1954 to 1979. He was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives from Hinds County at large in 1956 and served five terms, until 1975. In his twenty years as representative, Moss served on and chaired the House Education, Ways and Means, and Public Utilities Committees and he also served on the state Building Commission and the PEER Committee.
In 1978, Moss was elected as Chancery Judge for the Fifth Chancery Court District of Mississippi where he served three terms and upon retirement continued to hear cases by assignment as a Senior Status Judge for South Mississippi until 1992. In 1985, the Mississippi College School of Law named Moss as its Alumnus of the Year and in 2004 Hinds Community College (HCC) honored him with the same recognition. In October, 1999, the HCC Raymond Campus baseball stadium was dedicated to Moss.
Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Permelia W. (Pam) Moss, of Raymond; three sons (& spouses) Joe B. Moss (Janet) of Jackson, Jack G. Moss (Camille) and Judd D. Moss (Barbara), both of Raymond; three grandsons, Jeff J. Moss of Brandon, Justin B. Moss of Birmingham, AL and Joseph G. (JoJo) Moss, II of Raymond; two great-grandchildren, Kathryn E. Moss and B. Jarrett Moss of Brandon; and one sister, Flavia M. Baggett of Jackson.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Raymond, Mississippi.