James L. Spencer

On Saturday afternoon, May 9, 2009, like so many times in his final years, Judge, age 87, said "I sure wish you would spring me out of here. I feel fine!" On Sunday morning, May 10, 2009, he died at MS Baptist Medical Center.
Visitation will be at the Natchez Trace funeral home from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, and graveside services will be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson, MS at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
Born July 10, 1921 in Hattiesburg MS, Honorable James Louie Spencer's childhood was spent in Jackson Tennessee.
At age 77, he realized his lifelong desire to acquire swampland in the Mississippi Delta by completing the purchase of The Rocky Bayou Place in Yazoo County adjacent to Kinkead Plantation. Being one of the long standing members of the famed "Fighting Bayou" duck hunting club in Schlater, MS, he spent the days in Yazoo County working to create the best duck hunting land he could. Anyone who has ever hunted in the "Judges' Hole" would say he accomplished that goal.
His most formative and memorable years were spent as a teenager in rural Carroll County each summer with his uncles, James Luther Spencer in Carrolton and Louie Clyde Spencer in McCarley. His first cousin, Elizabeth Spencer writes that the arrival of him and his brother Edward, in June of every year became "an advent breathlessly awaited. When they came, our summer began. Everybody liked them." She goes on to write a description of the Spencer men "they all had sharp noses and double chins, amiable faces but strong opinions."
He attended Lambuth University in Jackson, TN, Auburn University in AL and the University of Alabama where he graduated. He was a Kappa Sigma.
His fascination with aircrafts lead him to enlist in the Air Force where he completed flight school and was stationed in France during World War II. In 1944, at the age of 23, he flew the P-47D Thunderbolt on 89 combat missions and received the distinguished Flying Cross for guiding home a squadron of pilots in inclement weather.
After his discharge from the Air Force, he attended The University of Virginia Law school and moved to Jackson in 1945 where he was married to the late Anne Potter, a fourth generation Jacksonian who preceded him in death. He joined the Episcopal Church and was a member of St. Andrews Cathedral.
His first career in law was at the now Watkins, Ludlam, Stennis law firm. In 1957, he opened his office for the practice of law primarily in real estate. At one time it was speculated that he closed over one half of the real estate loans in Jackson. In 1958, Mayor Allen C. Thompson asked him to take a position as municipal judge for the City of Jackson which he served until 1977. He served as town attorney of Flowood, Mississippi under Mayor Chastain Flint and was also on the Pearl River drainage board until his resignation in 2002.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Gray & Mary Tilley Spencer; and his daughter, Nancy Potter Spencer.
He is survived by his son, James Chalmers Spencer (Kaye), who lives in Madison County; his grandchildren, James Daniel Spencer & Marianne Elizabeth Spencer, both of Madison; his brother, Ed (Francis); and two nieces of Jackson, Tennessee.
The family extends their thanks to the staff at Campbell Cove of St. Catherine's Village for their loving care. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to St Catherine's Village, 200 Dominican Drive, Madison, MS, 39110.