William Oast Jr.

William H. Oast Jr. PORTSMOUTH - The Honorable William H. Oast Jr., 86, died Oct. 27, 2008. Judge Oast, a native of Portsmouth, was the son of the late William H. Oast and Martha Ann King Oast. He was educated in the Portsmouth Public Schools, and he received his undergraduate and his law degrees from Washington and Lee University. He was in the private practice of law in Portsmouth from 1950 until 1975 when the state legislature elected him a judge of the Circuit Court of the City of Portsmouth. He later served two terms as Chief Judge of that court and retired in 1991. He continued to serve as a substitute judge until 2006. He was a past president of the Portsmouth Rotary Club of which he was a member for more than 50 years and he was a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. During World War II, he served as an enlisted member of the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific and China. Survivors include his wife, Martha Ann Mercer Oast of Portsmouth; their three children, William H. Oast III, his wife Pam and their two sons of Portsmouth; Martha Ann Oast Brickhouse, her husband Maury and their three children of Chesapeake; C. Mercer Oast, his wife Sharon and their two daughters of Greensboro, N.C.; three great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Townsend Oast of Virginia Beach and John King Oast of Portsmouth. He was predeceased by his sister, Alice Tabb Oast Morse. A memorial service will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in St. John's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth. Interment will be private. Foster Funeral Home, Portsmouth, is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 2730 Ellsmere Ave., Norfolk, VA 23513 or St. John's Episcopal Church, 424 Washington St., Portsmouth, VA 23704.