Clement Murphy Moss

1926 - 2021

Clement Murphy Moss (1926-2021) of Charlottesville, VA died at his home on January 5, 2021. Born November 19, 1926 in Lake Charles, LA, he was the son of the late Judge and Mrs. Clement M. Moss of Lake Charles. He is survived by his daughter, Melinda Moss and her husband J. Howell Way IV, of Saluda, NC, and son, Dr. Kevin M. Moss and his husband Ernest L. McLeod, of Middlebury, VT, and by his beloved wife, Mary Ann Coffey of Charlottesville; two grandchildren, Kelly H. Way and his wife, Dr. Jill Kitaura, of New Orleans, LA, and Courtney A. Way and her husband Gregoire Guy Charriere-Bournazel, of Valencia, Spain; two great-grandchildren, Hugo James Charriere-Bournazel and Clementine Rose Charriere-Bournazel of Valencia; a sister, Elizabeth Ann Moss Argus of New Orleans, LA; and a number of nieces and nephews. His brother, Dr. L. Kennedy Moss, Sr. of Lake Charles, LA, predeceased him. He received a baccalaureate degree in 1947 and law degree in 1949 from Tulane University in New Orleans, where he was valedictorian of his law class. He served on active duty in the U. S. Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946, was commissioned at eighteen, and was separated from service in the 1950s as a Lt. (j.g.). He practiced law from 1949 to 1957 in Lake Charles with the firm of Moss & Graham. In 1957 he joined the firm of Lemle & Kelleher in New Orleans, with whom he practiced law until his retirement in 1988 when he was chairman and managing partner. He represented a number of major corporations and tried cases in state and federal courts from Houston to Miami. He was admitted to practice before the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals and the U. S. Supreme Court. Active in community affairs, Murphy had been the youngest state commander of the Louisiana American Legion, served as Tulane Alumni Association president, was president of the St. Martin's Protestant Episcopal School board, president of the Louisiana Multiple Sclerosis Society, president of the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association, member of the house of delegates of the Louisiana Bar Association, member of the American Law Institute, a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the Tulane Board of Visitors and the Tulane President's Council, active in several clubs and carnival organizations, and was listed in Who's Who in America. Upon retirement in 1988, Murphy and Mary Ann moved to historic Edenton, NC, where he was president of the Chowan County Arts Council, chaired the town Preservation Commission, and was president of the Edenton Historical Commission to which he had been appointed by two North Carolina governors. Having first acquired a home in Albemarle County, VA, in early 1997, Murphy and Mary Ann relocated to Charlottesville in 2002. In 2005 he published an illustrated Moss family history commencing in the eighteenth century in what became Nelson County, VA, and distributed copies to some 300 relatives. His genealogical research discovered that he was a descendant of nine Mayflower passengers of whom one, Stephen Hopkins, was not only a signatory of the Mayflower Compact and active in affairs of the Plymouth Colony for 24 years, but had previously served six years at Jamestown. Murphy was devoted to his family and to Jefferson and Madison, enjoyed his rescue cats, band music, theatre, and his library (especially history and biography), and appreciated the Blue Ridge Mountains, trees, plants, and birds, as well as deer and other native species. Murphy requested that, following cremation, arrangements remain private. Those desirous of making memorial contributions are requested to consider Southern Environmental Law Center, 201 W. Main St., Suite 14, Charlottesville VA 22902, or Wildlife Center of Virginia, P.O. Box 1557, Waynesboro VA 22980-1414, or a charity of their choice. An online guestbook can be found at abettercremation.org.