Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "{{Infobox person | name=Roy Morris Fish (Louisiana attorney and banker) | birth_date=July 27, 1922 | birth_place=Walker Creek, Lafayette County, Arkansas, USA<br> Reside..."
{{Infobox person
| name=Roy Morris Fish
(Louisiana attorney and banker)
| birth_date=July 27, 1922
| birth_place=Walker Creek, Lafayette County,
[[Arkansas]], USA<br>
Resided in Springhill in Webster Parish and in retirement in [[Shreveport]]
| death_date=September 5, 2020 (aged 98)
| death_place=Shreveport
'''Resting place''':<br>
Springhill Cemetery in Springhill, Louisiana
| spouse=Ann Norwood Fish (died 2017)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
Ralph Norwood Fish (deceased)<br>
Morris Randal Fish<br>
Five grandchildren<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Roy Lee and Alice Simpson Fish<br>
'''Alma mater''':<br>
Southern Arkansas University (Magnolia)<br>
[[Louisiana State University]] Law Center ([[Baton Rouge]])
|branch=[[United States Coast Guard]]
|serviceyears=1941-1945||
'''Roy Morris Fish''' (July 27, 1922 – September 5, 2020)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/roy-fish/e223818617160|title=Roy Fish|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 6, 2020}}</ref> was a politically-connected [[attorney]] and banker from Springhill in Webster Parish in northwestern [[Louisiana]]. A former chairman of the Webster Parish [[Republican Party]], he switched allegiance in 2004 and became a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]<ref name=nlh>Billy Hathorn, "Same Surnames, Different Perspectives: Harold and Jack Montgomery in the Louisiana State Senate, 1960 to 1976," ''[[North Louisiana History]]'' Vol 51 (Winter/Spring 2020, p. 46 (footnote 110)</ref> allied with the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] in [[Montgomery]], [[Alabama]], and the [[American Civil Liberties Union]].<ref name=obit/>/
Fish was born to Roy Lee Fish and the former Alice Simpson in Walker Creek in Lafayette (pronounced LEH FAY IT) County in southwestern [[Arkansas]]. He began public school education in Texarkana, Arkansas while his father worked for the railroad at Union Station. Roy Lee Fish earned $90 per month (nearly 1,800 in 2020 dollars) but still managed to buy the family's home and a used Overland automobile. When the stock market crashed in October 1929 and the [[Great Depression]] began, the family moved back to the Walker Creek community and became sharecroppers. In this capacity Fish became a prolific picker of [[cotton]]. Despite the economic hard times, the Fish family prospered. <ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=roy-morris-fish&pid=196747856|title=Roy Morris Fish (1922-2020) obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=September 5, 2020}}</ref>
After high school, Roy attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, and in October 1941, shortly before the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]], he enlisted in the [[United States Coast Guard]]. He was discharged when the war ended and enrolled in law school at [[Louisiana State University]] in the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]], from which he graduated in 1949. Roy worked for forty years in his law office in Springhill. Part of the time he was in practice with [[Charles McConnell]], a former Springhill mayor and [[Jack Montgomery (Louisiana politician)|Jack Montgomery]], a former one-term Democratic state senator.<ref name=nlh/> After he retired from his law practice, Fish was named president of the former Springhill Bank and Trust Company, a position that he filled for five years.<ref name=obit/>
Fish was the city attorney for Springhill. In the summer of 1972, he was an unsuccessful candidate in a nonpartisan race to be the District 10 delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which met throughout 1973. Fish polled 1,746 votes, but victory went to state Representative [[R. Harmon Drew, Jr.]], who topped the three-candidate field with 3,194 votes. In third place was the independent [[journalist]] Eddy Arnold , then o [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]]. <ref>''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' August 21, 1972, p. 1.</ref>' He was active in the Louisiana Bar Association, from which he received in 1985 the President's Award for the most valuable service to the association According to his obituary, Fish was one of the last of the "old school" lawyers who could handle a wide range of cases.<ref name=obit/>
Shortly after coming to Springhill, Roy met and married the former Ann Norwood, and the couple had two sons, Ralph Norwood Fish (deceased) and Morris Randal Fish and his wife Debbie. When Ann suffered a debilitating stroke, Roy became her caregiver for eight years until Ann's death in 2017. Fish was a lifelong [[golf]]er and played his last game a week before his passing in Shreveport at the age of ninety-eight. He liked to travel and was also a voracious reader. He and his wife are interred at Springhill Cemetery. In addition to his wife and son, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Alice Faye Willis and Marilyn Fish Bryan. In addition to son Randal Fish, he was survived by three granddaughters.is granddaughters Holly Michelle Fish, Lauren Lee Fish, and Allison Ann Fish and her husband, Brennan Black.<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Roy Morris}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Former Republicans]]
[[Category:World War II]]
| name=Roy Morris Fish
(Louisiana attorney and banker)
| birth_date=July 27, 1922
| birth_place=Walker Creek, Lafayette County,
[[Arkansas]], USA<br>
Resided in Springhill in Webster Parish and in retirement in [[Shreveport]]
| death_date=September 5, 2020 (aged 98)
| death_place=Shreveport
'''Resting place''':<br>
Springhill Cemetery in Springhill, Louisiana
| spouse=Ann Norwood Fish (died 2017)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
Ralph Norwood Fish (deceased)<br>
Morris Randal Fish<br>
Five grandchildren<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Roy Lee and Alice Simpson Fish<br>
'''Alma mater''':<br>
Southern Arkansas University (Magnolia)<br>
[[Louisiana State University]] Law Center ([[Baton Rouge]])
|branch=[[United States Coast Guard]]
|serviceyears=1941-1945||
'''Roy Morris Fish''' (July 27, 1922 – September 5, 2020)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/roy-fish/e223818617160|title=Roy Fish|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=September 6, 2020}}</ref> was a politically-connected [[attorney]] and banker from Springhill in Webster Parish in northwestern [[Louisiana]]. A former chairman of the Webster Parish [[Republican Party]], he switched allegiance in 2004 and became a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]<ref name=nlh>Billy Hathorn, "Same Surnames, Different Perspectives: Harold and Jack Montgomery in the Louisiana State Senate, 1960 to 1976," ''[[North Louisiana History]]'' Vol 51 (Winter/Spring 2020, p. 46 (footnote 110)</ref> allied with the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] in [[Montgomery]], [[Alabama]], and the [[American Civil Liberties Union]].<ref name=obit/>/
Fish was born to Roy Lee Fish and the former Alice Simpson in Walker Creek in Lafayette (pronounced LEH FAY IT) County in southwestern [[Arkansas]]. He began public school education in Texarkana, Arkansas while his father worked for the railroad at Union Station. Roy Lee Fish earned $90 per month (nearly 1,800 in 2020 dollars) but still managed to buy the family's home and a used Overland automobile. When the stock market crashed in October 1929 and the [[Great Depression]] began, the family moved back to the Walker Creek community and became sharecroppers. In this capacity Fish became a prolific picker of [[cotton]]. Despite the economic hard times, the Fish family prospered. <ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=roy-morris-fish&pid=196747856|title=Roy Morris Fish (1922-2020) obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=September 5, 2020}}</ref>
After high school, Roy attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, and in October 1941, shortly before the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]], he enlisted in the [[United States Coast Guard]]. He was discharged when the war ended and enrolled in law school at [[Louisiana State University]] in the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]], from which he graduated in 1949. Roy worked for forty years in his law office in Springhill. Part of the time he was in practice with [[Charles McConnell]], a former Springhill mayor and [[Jack Montgomery (Louisiana politician)|Jack Montgomery]], a former one-term Democratic state senator.<ref name=nlh/> After he retired from his law practice, Fish was named president of the former Springhill Bank and Trust Company, a position that he filled for five years.<ref name=obit/>
Fish was the city attorney for Springhill. In the summer of 1972, he was an unsuccessful candidate in a nonpartisan race to be the District 10 delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which met throughout 1973. Fish polled 1,746 votes, but victory went to state Representative [[R. Harmon Drew, Jr.]], who topped the three-candidate field with 3,194 votes. In third place was the independent [[journalist]] Eddy Arnold , then o [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]]. <ref>''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' August 21, 1972, p. 1.</ref>' He was active in the Louisiana Bar Association, from which he received in 1985 the President's Award for the most valuable service to the association According to his obituary, Fish was one of the last of the "old school" lawyers who could handle a wide range of cases.<ref name=obit/>
Shortly after coming to Springhill, Roy met and married the former Ann Norwood, and the couple had two sons, Ralph Norwood Fish (deceased) and Morris Randal Fish and his wife Debbie. When Ann suffered a debilitating stroke, Roy became her caregiver for eight years until Ann's death in 2017. Fish was a lifelong [[golf]]er and played his last game a week before his passing in Shreveport at the age of ninety-eight. He liked to travel and was also a voracious reader. He and his wife are interred at Springhill Cemetery. In addition to his wife and son, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Alice Faye Willis and Marilyn Fish Bryan. In addition to son Randal Fish, he was survived by three granddaughters.is granddaughters Holly Michelle Fish, Lauren Lee Fish, and Allison Ann Fish and her husband, Brennan Black.<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Roy Morris}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Former Republicans]]
[[Category:World War II]]