Thomas Glover Roberts

Thomas Glover Roberts III of Gulfport, age 68, passed away on Thursday, October 15, 2009 in Gulfport. He was born September 14, 1941 at the old Kings Daughters Hospital in Gulfport. Mr. Roberts was preceded in death by his parents, William Booth Roberts and Dorothy Peets Roberts, both of Gulfport. Glover is survived Laura Wilcox Roberts his wife of 40 years, and their three children and their families, Martha (Mike Smith) of Atlanta, GA, Booth (Connie) of Plano, TX and Kate (Chris Strong) of Carrollton, TX, and one grandson, Parker Thomas Strong. Also survived by his sister, Betty Roberts Monro (Chuck) of Woodbridge, VA, as well as numerous cousins, friends and colleagues, all of whom he cherished greatly. Mr. Roberts graduated from Gulfport High School in 1959, attended Tulane University and graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor in Business Administration degree, serving during that period in the Mississippi Army National Guard from 1958 through 1963. He received his law degree in 1966 from the University Of Mississippi School Of Law. After law school, he served in the Office of General Counsel (1966-1968) and as Special Assistant to the Vice Chairman (1968-1970) of the Federal Maritime Commission, in Washington, D. C. before moving back to Gulfport with his bride in the spring of 1970 to enter private law practice. He practiced in the firms of Hewes, Roberts & Warren and Roberts and Warren during his tenure in private practice in Gulfport. Also active politically and in civic affairs during that period, Mr. Roberts served as Campaign Manager for the Trent Lott for Congress Campaign in 1972 and 1974, as well as in several management and fund-raising positions in two Republican gubernatorial campaigns as well as the Thad Cochran for Senate Campaign in the late 1970’s. He served as the first President of the Harrison County Republican Club and later as the Chairman of the Harrison County Republican Committee, as well as serving as a delegate to several Republican State Conventions during that period. He also served as Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Mississippi Coast Transportation Authority (now CTA) in its formative years, then as outside General Counsel from 1974 to 1981. In the 1970’s, Mr. Roberts was active in the Gulfport Yacht Club, serving as a member of its board of directors, a committee chairman, and membership committee member. In addition, he served on the Administrative Board of the First United Methodist Church and as President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Harrison County Bar Association. In 1981, he was appointed as the U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi in Biloxi, serving from 1981 to1986 and as Chief Bankruptcy Judge in that district in 1986. During his tenure, Mr. Roberts also served on assignment from the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to the Northern District of Mississippi, the Western District of Louisiana at Shreveport, the Northern District of Texas at Dallas and Fort Worth and the Southern District of Texas in Houston. While assigned to the Houston Bankruptcy Court, Judge Roberts served as the presiding judge in the first Continental Air Lines chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case, at the time one of the largest and most complex chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in the United States. While on the bench, he was also appointed by the Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court, Warren Burger, as a member of the Bankruptcy Administration Committee of the Judicial Conference of the U.S., serving from 1983 to 1986. Mr. Roberts returned to the private practice of law in 1986, joining the firm of Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay as a partner in the bankruptcy section of its Dallas Texas office. In 1981, he formed the firm of Roberts & Grant, P. C. with Richard Grant, who had practiced with the Sheinfeld firm. During his years of practice, Mr. Roberts’ areas of practice focused on bankruptcy, business reorganizations and commercial litigation. A trained mediator and former member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators, he also served as a mediator in business and bankruptcy cases, being a member of the Court-appointed Mediators’ Panel for the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Mediators’ Panel for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi. During his years of practice in Texas, he also served as an expert witness in litigation related to bankruptcy matters. He was admitted to practice before the Mississippi Supreme Court, the State Bar of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas, and the Western District of Michigan, as well as the Southern District of Mississippi. He also had been a member of the Dallas Bar Association (member, ADR Section and Bankruptcy Section), the American Bar Association (Member, Sections of Business Law and ADR); Mississippi State Bar; State Bar of Texas; National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the Association of Former Bankruptcy Judges having served as National President of this organization., and the American Bankruptcy Institute. While in Texas, he also served as a Master in the Judge John C. Ford Inn of Court. Throughout his career, he also served as a panel member and speaker on various bankruptcy matters at numerous conferences, both at the state and national level. In November, 2006, Mr. Roberts moved toward semi-retirement in the practice of law, returning with his wife to Gulfport, residing at 1618 Jones Avenue in Gulfport at the time of his death. Mr. Roberts, when asked whether he “was doing any traveling in retirement”, was quick to say that “after 24 years of traveling to 42 cities in 23 different states, litigating, settling cases, negotiating business deals, mediating or speaking at seminars, my idea of a good trip is a long walk down Second Street with my Springer spaniel, Mac, visiting friends.” When asked what brought him and his wife back to Gulfport and their old neighborhood in the Second Street area devastated by Katrina, he said “the people. The people in Gulfport are the best. They will build it back” The Roberts family would like to thank the overwhelming number of people who wrote, called or visited Glover, supporting him in his efforts to beat down his disease and particularly the Ochsners Hospital staff and the Gulfport doctors and their staffs, who attended him. The family prefers memorials made to Philanthropy@Ochsner.org (504-842-7110) or www.nationalpancreasfoundation.org/donate/index.htm Family, friends and colleagues are invited to participate in a celebration of Glover’s life at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Gulfport on Monday, October 19, 2009, at 2:00 p. m. where friends may visit one hour before service time. A private interment service will be held at the Roberts family plot in the Evergreen Cemetery, Gulfport. Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, in Gulfport is in charge of arrangements.