Edward Connell Sr.

Edward (Ed) Peacock Connell, Sr., age 73, died Wednesday, March 3, 2010, in Clarksdale.
Ed is survived by his wife, Eva Badger Connell, his son, Edward (Ted) Peacock Connell, Jr. and wife, Kelly Hemphill Connell, and a granddaughter, Frances Sykes Connell.
He was preceded in death by his brother and sister-in-law, Charles Willis Connell Jr. and Susan James Connell.
Ed was born in Memphis on April 8, 1936, to the late Charles Willis Connell, Sr. and Georgia Peacock Connell. He graduated
from Clarksdale High School in 1954 as salutatorian, attended Tulane University in New Orleans on an Honor Scholarship, graduated from the University of Mississippi with distinction as salutatorian of the 1958 class, in which he was a member of the Hall of Fame, President of Omicron Delta Kappa, the Inter-Fraternity Council, and Delta Sigma Pi, Vice-President of the Class of 1958 and of Phi Delta Theta social fraternity, and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi scholastic fraternity. Ed then attended the University of Mississippi School of Law on an Omicron Delta Kappa scholarship, was Associate Editor and Business Manager of the Mississippi Law Journal, and graduated with distinction as salutatorian in 1961.

Ed then began practicing law in Clarksdale with Holcomb and Curtis, attended New York University Graduate School of Law in 1962, taking courses in Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts Drafting, Estate and Gift Taxation, and Personal and Corporate Income Taxation, returned to practice with Holcomb and Curtis, and in 1963 became Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, teaching courses in Estate Planning, Estate And Gift Taxation, Wills, Trusts, Wills And Trusts Drafting, Income Taxation, and Property for thirteen years.
Ed served as Municipal Judge in Clarksdale from 1962 until 1968, was President of the Young Lawyers' Section of the Mississippi State Bar in 1966, Vice President of the Mississippi State Bar in 1967, was a member of the Executive Council of the Young Lawyers' Section of the American Bar Association from 1966 through 1968, representing Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama, President of the Coahoma County Bar Association in 1969, Chairman of the Mississippi State Bar Committee on Taxation in 1973, President of the University of Mississippi Law Alumni Association in 1984, and was a member of The Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, having taught many people to fly in Clarksdale as well as in Oxford from 1954 through 1961.

Ed was a Fellow in The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, having served as its Mississippi State Chairman from 1985 through 1987, and was selected by his peers to be listed in all editions of The Best Lawyers in America from its inception in 1983 through the 2008 edition.
From 1961 to 1990, Ed was an associate, partner or stockholder in Holcomb, Dunbar, Connell, Chaffin & Willard, or its predecessor firms, with offices in Clarksdale, Oxford, Jackson, Southaven, and Aberdeen. Since 1990, Ed practiced law individually in Clarksdale until his retirement in 2009.
Pallbearers are Mike Chaffin, Harry Flowers, Charles Merkel Sr., Charles Merkel Jr., Rives Neblett, and William Willard. Honorary pallbearers are Hal Fiser, Willis Frazer, Robert Khayat, David Mullens, Shaw Johnson and Charles Neel White.
Services will be at St. George's Episcopal Church, Clarksdale, at 2:00 o'clock Saturday, March 6, 2010, with burial at Oakridge Cemetery.
The family requests memorial contributions, in lieu of flowers, be sent to the University of Mississippi Foundation, Oxford, St. George's Episcopal Church or Day School, Clarksdale, Lee Academy, Clarksdale, or a charity of the donor's choice.
After services, the family will receive guests at home.
Meredith-Nowell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.