William Fones

William H. D. Fones (October 6, 1917 – December 23, 2010) was an American jurist who served on the state supreme court of Tennessee. Fones was born in 1917 in Friendship, Tennessee. He moved to Memphis with his family during the Depression. In Memphis he was educated at Messick High School and West Tennessee State Teachers College, which later became the University of Memphis. After college he studied law at the University of Tennessee, graduating before the United States entered World War II. Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the U.S. Army, becoming a bomber pilot for the Fifth Army Air Force and flying 90 combat missions in the Pacific. Upon returning to civilian life after World War II, Fones commenced the private practice of law in Memphis. He spent 25 years with the firm of Rosenfield, Borod, Fones, Bogatin & Kremer, leaving in 1971 to assume a circuit court judgeship. In 1973, Fones was appointed an associate justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court by governor Winfield Dunn, a Republican. In 1974, after the Tennessee General Assembly repealed the law adopting the Modified Missouri Plan for appointment of state supreme court judges, a partisan election was held for all five seats on the court. Fones, who declared himself a political independent, stood for election and became the only incumbent among five candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party. The Democratic slate won the election and Fones was to remain on the court until his retirement in 1990, including service as chief justice.