Sam E. Boaz

Judge Sam E. Boaz

Retired Judge Sam E. Boaz, died Friday.

Graveside service will be held on Monday, February 11, 2013 at 11a.m at Greenwood Cemetery, with the Rev. Cliff Wright officiating.

Boaz retired as judge of the Law and Equity Court and the Criminal Court of Montgomery County, a position he held for 16 years. Following retirement, he served as a judge of the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals.

Boaz moved to Clarksville in 1947, ending a journey begun in McKenzie, TN, where he was born, next to the youngest of eight children of John James David Boaz and Clyde McCracken Boaz. After graduating from Bethel College in McKenzie and the University of Tennessee College of Law, Boaz practiced law in Knoxville, then joined the legal department of Alumninum Co. of America at Alcoa.

In 1944, he was appointed vice counsul in the U.S. Foreign Service and sent to Birmingham, England, where he served in the American Consulate. His wife, Broecksie Cummings Boaz, joined him in England. He later was assigned to the American Embassy in London. He resigned in 1946 from the diplomatic service and returned to Tennessee to practice law, starting in Nashville.

He became interested in Clarksville and in 1947, joined the practice of William Daniel. Senator Austin Peay, son of Governor Austin Peay, asked Boaz to join his firm. Only a few months later, Senator Peay, while performing in the state Senate, died, and Boaz continued alone.

In 1958, William O. Beach joined him and they started the firm, Boaz and Beach. Beach was elected Montgomery County judge in 1961 and the partnership ceased.

In addition to law practice, he served as president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, president of the local Bar Association, vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association and a member of the American Bar. He also was chairman of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Library Board and secretary of the Museum Board.

He was elected to the state House of Representatives, serving Montgomery and Cheatham Counties, in 1963 and re-elected in 1965. He was a member of Madison Street United Methodist Church.

A lifelong interest in history led Boaz in 1952 to acquire the property in New Providence on which the Civil War Fort Defiance stood. In the 1980s, he deeded the property to the city of Clarksville for preservation because he thought it should be owned by the public.

His wife Broecksie died in 1984 and in 1990, he married Margery (Dee) Wienand Bryant, who survives.

Also surviving are two stepchildren, Paul William Bryant (Robin), Murfreesboro, TN, and Kellie Bryant Smith (Frank), Monterey, CA; and five step-grandchildren, Hailey N. Bryant, John Paul W. Bryant, Samantha D. Smith, Richard L. Smith and Liam J. Smith; nieces and nephews.

The family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials be sent to the Austin Peay State University Professors Scholarship of Excellence in the Arts, which the Boazes established; the Boaz Scholarship at Bethel University in McKenzie, or a charity of the donor's choice. Arrangements entrusted to Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, 1510 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN 37040. Online condolences may be made at www.neal-tarpley.com.